Monkey Business
by MagiKei
Summary: Monster!AU Monkey D. Luffy is a yokai who really enjoys pranks with his brothers. However when his latest attempt at smiles and laughter ends with him kidnapped and leagues away from his friends and family He will have to make some new allies with the skills and advantages he needs to make it back. However, something so easily said is never something easily done.
1. Chapter 1: That Type of Morning

In the early morning hours near the top of Mt. Colubo, all was still and silent. A rare occurrence, to be sure, and one that came into play for one of the most elaborate, and unnecessary plans of all time. Zoom in further, and in the very dense foliage that surrounded Mt. Colubo, there stood a fairly well-hidden treehouse among one tall, old, rugged tree. Inside this one tree, three yokai, all varying in size and appearance, all sat around the center floor, snickering as much was possible. One, was laughing far more than could possibly be necessary.

At first, one could consider the boy to be a small monkey, with a long, thin tail, small pointed ears on the top if his head, like a tanuki, small dark-colored wings, and the coloring pattern on its fur is more reminiscent of a leopard, with the base coloring being a dark brown. He was Monkey D. Luffy, a Fūseijou or Fūri, who currently resided in the forests of Mt. Colubo, along with his brothers, one of which silenced his wild and wicked laughter. "Luffy! The whole plan will be blown to bits with you laughing like that! Shh~!" The younger yokai protested, immediately quivering his lip at his scolding, "Wha~! But-" To which the third monster spoke up, not as loud as the other, "He's right, Luffy, we need to remember your brilliant plan." Luffy looked between the two, his pout still standing for another few quick moments before dropping it all together in place of his usual wide grin.

"Alright! Shishishishishishishi!" Luffy remarked, before diverting his attention to something near his feet. This left the other two to talk. As they were both older than Luffy, they had quite a bit more riding on their shoulders if their latest plan were to fall through. The two conversed quietly, already having agreed to Luffy's idea, they didn't want him to overhear their concerns. "Is everything alright on your end? Nothing holding you up?" The one who scolded Luffy earlier murmured, his body flickered nervously, as it tends to happen when one is made completely of fire. His scales seemed to mirror the pattern of his accelerated heartbeat. The other monster, another dragon nodded, "Yes, and I've made sure to tell Luffy where to run. Do you get the feeling that pranks were never this dangerous before we met Luffy?"

"You encourage him, Sabo" The fiery dragon, Ace, responded. Flames seeped out and around his nostrils as he breathed. Sabo kept the same motherly look in his eyes, tilting his head to Ace, "True." He stated nonchalantly, "But you encourage him through inhibition. Every time you say no, he takes it as a challenge." To this statement, Ace could do nothing but roll his eyes.

"Are you _sure_ he knows where he's going?" Ace continued, pulling at Sabo's ear before he could leave, "Ah! I'm fairly sure he does! He's been in these forests just as long as we have!" Both dragons looked over to where their monkey brother had occupied himself trying to capture a small butterfly. They'd only met up here first instead of immediately enacting their plan to make sure that all involved parties knew what they were doing. Drilling the details of Luffy's plan over and over had made him burst into laughter over the specifics. And now that his mind was elsewhere, they could only assume that meant there was nothing left to be said.

Ace released Sabo's ear, allowing the dragon to make sure it was attached before moving over to Luffy. "I'm going to get this plan started. Oi, you know your cues, right?" Ignoring Sabo's sigh at his mothering, he waited until Luffy nodded before taking off. His body leaving small cinders and ash that eventually burned up behind him. "BY- Oh! I mean, bye~!" Luffy laughed, correcting his volume. Sabo sighed, "You're coming with me, Luffy?" Sabo asked. Luffy, nodded, jumping up as if gravity meant nothing to him and landed squarely onto Sabo's back, clinging to golden scales as much as he could.

Luffy was as ready as he could have ever been. He and Sabo had a very simple job in this plan, and that was to add to the pandemonium. To the untrained ear the silence of the forest continued, but to Luffy, and Sabo as well, there was a hushed excitement in the trees. They enlisted the help of a rather large collection of spirits around the mountain to help with their prank. Luffy could nearly taste the excitement on the various spirits and yokai like himself, who enjoy a good trick.

They were only planning to scare Luffy's current caretaker's, a "helpful" group of bandit humans that may or may not have been forced to take care of him under the threat of corporal punishment. Luffy found them well enough at whatever job it is they had to do, but often tried to get them to relax a bit, in the form of his harmless pranks. They'd laugh, he'd laugh, they'd relax, and all of them could go on about their day. However, it almost never went that way. More often than not, Luffy would end up in trouble with the bandits, and hide from them among the people. It wasn't hard to because of his size, but he didn't want to. He just wanted people to smile a bit more. Not that much of a head-turner.

Sabo was supposed to be keeping watch beside Luffy. His sight was far better than Luffy's own, and he would be watching for Ace's signal. They stood there for a few moments, the silence almost settling again. Until Sabo spoke up, head immediately lifting and nearly throwing Luffy off of his back, "There! The signal! Let's go, Luffy!"

The two yokai took off through the forest in the most interesting of fashions. Sabo made sure to weave through the forest just enough to knock on as many trees as he could. Luffy had snapped of a low-hanging tree branch, and raked it across as many trees as he could. The goal was to get as many people armed as he could. Armed with berries, berries that they'd be throwing… The plan begins to make sense the more it's put together.

Ace was coming towards his brothers from the opposite side of the forest, gathering as many yokai as he could to collect berries, they would be meeting up at the house of their foster family. As the three brothers approached the door, Luffy launched himself from the back of Sabo, landed shakily on his tail. "Atatata~!" he hissed, straightening his pose completely, before innocently opening the door, and yelling inside, "Dadan~! We brought you breakfast! Shishishishi!" He waited, leaning back outside the door before looking at his brothers, both of which immediately began gesturing to Luffy. "What? What- Oh!" Luffy pulled grass from the ground, and placed it delicately to his forehead. "Yo ho ho!" upon contact, the small monkey turned into a much taller boy, humanoid in features with the same dark brown fur forming over the back of his hands and around his face, mixing in with the black hair on his head. He now wore some short blue capris and a sleeveless red vest. Though he did retain his monkey-like tail.

The door opened wider just as Luffy's transformation finished, Sabo and Ace doing similar transformations behind him. All three boys looked innocent enough as their foster mother, a larger, rugged looking woman by the name of Dadan, stepped into the doorway. "What do you brats want?" she growled, it _was_ early, and she _had_ wondered where the boys had been up to… but it was something that she didn't give much thought too, as it usually ended up with her on her ass. Even if she did feel a bit hopeful that they'd brought her a no-strings attached breakfast.

Ace and Sabo had effectively blocked much of the outside from Dadan's sight, even if that meant standing on their tiptoes. The horde of one-hundred or more yokai behind readied themselves, each of them standing to attention, holding their varied berries. "Yep, Dadan, it's right outside. It was kind of a large haul" Ace stated, leaning on the doorframe. "We stopped by Windmill Village towards the bottom of the mountain and picked some stuff up." Sabo added, nodded slightly. Luffy could only snicker, seeing his brothers holding their hands behind their backs, readying their own berries to throw.

Ace and Sabo took this moment to step away, the secondary signal, gripping their own berries tightly and stepping back. Sabo even pulled Luffy back behind him, placing him out of the way. As Dadan stepped out of the doorway to see her breakfast, Luffy nearly screamed, "BON APPETITE~!" At that very moment, there was a flurry of what could only be described as "tropical" colors, and multitude of them. Wild laughter could be heard from all corners of the clearing in front of the house, much of it was the random spirits, but the loudest among them was Luffy. The boy almost didn't hear Sabo's voice as he pushed him further away from the house. "This is the part where we run, Luffy!" Both Ace and Sabo were already half-turning back in the chaos, the rain of fruit and the loud yelling provided adequate cover for them to disappear behind some trees nearby. "We've got a few minutes before she collects her thoughts and her weapons." Ace started, then turning to Sabo, "Take him to town. Luffy, I don't know your hiding spot, but we'll find you after the heat dies down, alright?"

"Yes!" Luffy managed through laughs, finally catching his breath, he grabbed onto Sabo, as the boy turned back into his golden dragon form. "We'll give it a few minutes, Luffy, we'll have to count to 300, alright?" Luffy scrunched up his nose for a moment, but nodded, still smiling widely, "I'll be at-"

"Atatata~! Don't tell me, stupid! Only Sabo needs to know." Ace growled, snapping his hand over Luffy's mouth. The ruckus behind them was quickly dying down, giving way to a much more terrifying roar. One that all three quickly recognized as Dadan. Without time for a goodbye, the three splits into two groups, Ace tearing up into the air and Sabo taking Luffy weaving through the trees.

Luffy howled in glee as they tore down the mountain, despite the situation, keeping count as the forest scenery turned into a green and brown blur. Soon enough, the blur broke into an open, and quaint little fishing village, marked at the edges by towering windmills, hence the name.

The two landed behind one of the massive windmills, closest to the edge of the town. Luffy hopped off Sabo's back, waiting for the dragon's golden form to melt away and making sure that no human saw them around the area. "I'm gonna go hide, alright?" he stated, still trying to keep the numbers going in his head, standing at around 210 and down. Sabo nodded, "Try not to give away your position until you hear me or Ace coming for you, yeah?" Luffy waved away Sabo's questions, giving another in a handful of playful smirks, before rushing off.

Luffy found his way in the middle of what he personally considered to be the greatest town of all time. With its quiet atmosphere, and the wonderful people who were mostly all friends of Luffy's. He knew most of them, and even chatted them up on most occasions. However, at this moment, Luffy's goal brought him to the front of one of his favorite watering holes, Partys Bar. There was a collection of barrels that had been there for a while, sitting outside of the bar, undisturbed. Luffy's hiding spot would be here, inside the barrels, until Sabo came and got him. Luffy looked around, ignoring the odd folk that walked past giving him a look. Without another hesitation, he lifted the top off one of the barrels, jumped inside and waited.

Sitting there for a few minutes, Luffy could only imagine the look on Dadan's face. He really wished he could've seen her face, covered in berries. He only hoped the other yokai were able to get out of there before she really blew her top. Dadan could be scarier than even the strongest yokai when she was mad. He actually found himself laughing at the thought. Luffy thought of his brothers, wondering if Ace managed to find an adequate hiding spot. Ace would probably be found first, just because he wasn't that good at stealth as Luffy or Sabo. Sabo was practically a ninja, and if Luffy really wanted, he could just become smaller. Ace was loud, and obvious, there weren't that many flaming dragon boys around here, even his human guise was obvious. "…I54…153…152…" Luffy continued his countdown

Caught up in his musings, Luffy didn't even notice the two burly men standing right in front of his barrel, conversating with the bartender of Partys, and friend of Luffy's, Makino. "Are you sure it's alright that we take these extra kegs off your hands?" one of the men asked, already sizing up the three barrels sitting outside the popular bar. "You'd be doing me a favor, honestly." Makino replied, "These barrels were just left here a week ago, by some sailors. I didn't want to just bring it in." The other guy laughed, taking two barrels under each of his hefty arms, "Yeah, we get it. Just leave the caution up to us pirates, yeah?" The men laughed, the one who first spoke taking up the barrel with Luffy inside with both hands. "Don't worry about it, Makino, we'll get these kegs out of your hair. Free's free, right?"

Regardless of what was free, Luffy was now sloshing around in his previously stationary hiding spot. The liquid splashed into his eyes and mouth, tasting of a strong and bitter ale. Luffy didn't dare make a squeak, only able to retch before accidently swallowing more ale. Beer that had gone bad! If that was even possible, but it had been quite a scorcher of a week. And, to add with the displeasure of his senses, he was still in his "human" guise, and was unfortunately cramped into this barrel, slamming into the side as he was carried to god knows where. The men were taking the barrels to one place where they could be properly respected, their pirate ship.

 _~Double Dragon~_

The countdown from three-hundred had come and gone, leaving Sabo to emerge from his own hiding spot, though he stayed in human guise. A slightly empty part of Windmill Village, out closer to the mountain, so he could meet up with Ace and they could go find Luffy together. The boy sat down under a rather large and shady tree, talking with little wisps in the area. Looking to the mountain, he saw a bright red streak, tearing down the mountain just above the treetops. "That would be Ace." He mused, confusing the spirits around him, but shrugging it off to meet with his brother. "Ace! Ace!" Sabo called, running along the edge of the forest, and waving his arms, before simply turning back into his own majestic form in a burst of golden light. When he did, Ace seemed more aware of his presence, slowing his course, and fixing the trajectory so that he stopped nearby.

"Hey, did she catch you?" Sabo called, immediately seeing a huge red welt on his brother's face, practically changing the direction of many of the scales adorning his face. Sabo had to stifle a laughter as Ace directed a glare in his direction. "Yeth." He grumbed, sparks of fire flying from his eyes, "Yeth, she did." Sabo looked to the ground, nearly breaking into uncontrollable snorts, before waving it away, "That's… unfortunate." He managed, Ace rolling his eyes, "I had to thwitch tactiths, she wath going after you and Luffy, tho I created a dithtraction…" Sabo nodded, a taunting looking on his face, "And… uh, what happened to your face there, buddy?" Ace growled his initial response, before thwacking Sabo in the face with his tail, "I got smacked in the fathe, dumbath, bit my tongue in the proceth." Now nursing a sizeable bump of his own, Sabo still kept his taunting grin, "Oh yeah, Luffy's gonna _love_ that. Let's go get him."

Both Sabo and Ace donned their human disguises and began to walk into town, "So, I'm guessing we're still in trouble?" Sabo asked, making sure to look Ace in the eyes so he couldn't avoid the question, "Not ath much trouble ath we would be in if I hadn't taken the brunt of it." Ace shrugged, and as more villagers came into view, his focus shifted, "Where'th Luffy hiding anyway?" Sabo took a quick look around, then took the lead in their trek, "You know those barres just sitting outside Partys, he inside of one of them." As they approached the bar, Sabo froze, the barrels were missing from their spot. Immediately he turned fully around to face Ace, "So yeah, we should probably-"

"The barrelth are mithing." Ace stated, giving a cautionary look, something that would often precedes the wild, random search for their brother. But Sabo wasn't sure he wanted to do that first. They also worried about Luffy's safety, every time, this time, they would be rational. Sabo pulled Ace's arm, walking around the bar to the back, and making sure there was no sign of Luffy or the barrels. "Wait, now we go see if he's inside."

"And if he'th not inthide the bar?" Ace mused, eyebrows raised as they looked at the empty area in front of the them Sabo sighed, he had the same feelings about this that Ace did, he just didn't want to show them. They tended to lose Luffy rather often, and they didn't do themselves any favors by not freaking out. "Let's just go check real quick. Okay? Then we can freak out as much as you want." Though Ace made a face of protest at the comment, he walked alongside Sabo. They hurried inside the bar, finding Makino talking with some patrons at the bar. "Hey! Makino!" Sabo spoke up, catching her attention while Ace hung back, "You haven't seen Luffy around today, have you?" Makino looked up from her work and acknowledge the yokai with a smile, "Hello Sabo, Ace! No, I actually haven't seen Luffy today yet. Others talked about seeing him in town though." Ace stared into the back of Sabo's head, prompting him into his next question with a slight cough, "…uh, h-have you seen those barrels that have been sitting outside at all?"

Makino took some thought on this question, then nodded, "Those old ale barrels, yeah. Some pirates on their last day in town asked me if they could take the barrels on their voyage. I said they could and that-" She immediately looked up from her work, her face holding the mix of concern and expectance. "Luffy was _not_ in those barrels." Neither yokai spoke, Ace even averting his gaze to the floor, "He was, wasn't he? They could do nothing but nod. Makino hung her head, putting down a cup of ale, and walking around the counter. "Follow me." She said, motioning for the both of them to follow her.

As all three now stood outside, Makino sighed, "That ship left mere moments ago." Ace was the first to emote, "What? We need to get him!" Makino nodded, "Yeah, you should go, you'll be able to catch up to him without those disguises." Makino sighed, "I'm so sorry, I had no idea Luffy was in those barrels." Sabo shrugged it away with a small smile, "Don't worry about it. Luffy would be thrilled to know that his hiding spot was so good." Ace nodded, looking around before burning away his disguise and taking into the air, with only the quick rise in temperature to know he was there. "Hey, when we get back, we'll get drinks or something." Sabo offered, walking off a distance before taking his true form as well. He was guessing Dadan could yell at them later. Not saying she couldn't yell at them while they weren't there, but still.

~Monkey Boy~

Luffy had managed to pass out in between all the shaking and drinking of warm ale. Though he did wake up as much of a sick feeling as the one that put him to sleep. Dark, warm, and stinking of ale… the exact descriptive words Luffy never wanted to use in a complete thought. He hoped that maybe the part about his hiding spot moving wasn't true, but seeing that this was not the case, he sighed. His nose practically burned with the smell of ale, and he would most likely pass out if he stayed there much longer. With as much strength as he had, Luffy forced the top off of his barrel. Or rather, he tried to. He paused, the barrel's top not giving the slightest against his push. Luffy tried again, heaving against the barrel once more, to no avail. This is when he stopped, looking up at the top of the barrel pathetically.

"Oh, come on!" he muttered, ramming into the top of the barrel with as much of his shoulder as he could. He would have risked reverting back to his original smaller form, but he would have to tread ale if he did, and he'd be even weaker than he was right now, not at all suitable for busting out. Luffy groaned, what was even holding him in here? Luffy sought the answer to his own question by holding his head against the top of the barrel as best as he could. He heard the faintest grumblings, like someone snoring and gave up. Someone had to have fallen asleep on the barrel. And this someone was a bit of a beefcake, as well, his weight far exceeding what Luffy himself could lift. So, until this guy moved, Luffy was stuck in the barrel of beer.

It felt like hours passed, but maybe that's because Luffy was trying his hardest to keep himself above the liquid, especially in this squatting position, and he was getting tired. Which didn't entirely help when coupled with a secondary problem. He hadn't eaten since early that morning. He wanted the prank to be set for morning time, and Sabo promised they could go get something to eat later. However, since he'd been kidnapped, food was a non-negotiable, unless he maybe made his presence known to the ones who kidnapped him. Which may technically falter as well, since only a few humans minded yokai, and not many of them travelled the seas for a living. And Luffy was so obviously a yokai.

The rumbling in his stomach got louder the more he tried to ignore it. He was surprised that the guy sitting on the barrel didn't hear it, of course, these guys didn't hear the obviously more than solid object in their barrel of booze. Luffy snorted angrily, leaning his head against the side of the barrel. His head hurt, his stomach was scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of hunger, and he had no idea where his brothers were. Really turning into quite the crummy day. The day decided to take it a little bit easier on Luffy, as there was some loud talking outside of his temporary prison. And suddenly, the barrel seemed to creak, as if the weight was shifting off of it, Luffy smiled wide, nearly busting out, until the entire barrel flipped to its side, dousing Luffy once again in ale, and slamming his head into the side of the barrel.

"Oh~… what now?" Luffy gurgled through the ale that he was deep to his elbow in. The barrel swayed slightly, and seemed to be moving forward at the same time. They were moving the barrel, Luffy realized. Where to? He couldn't even begin to guess, he'd never been on a pirate ship before. As they marched on, however, he began to hear more noise, and it began to get louder. Even worse than that would be the smell of food. It was so good, and so strong, especially to heightened senses. Even stronger than the smell of ale riding on his fur. Luffy wanted to eat something, anything really at this point. Would they open the barrel? He could just burst out now… Luffy's brain had ceased functioning, nothing beyond the base need for food was reaching him, and certainly not the consequences.

The barrel was set down in the middle of all the noise and smells, upright, so Luffy was now sitting on his head. After several attempts to flip himself upright Luffy found himself contemplating how hard it would be for him to simply ask them to open the barrel, of course, blood was rushing to his head, so…

The only option as this moment was to once again sit and wait, difficult to do upside down, but it wasn't that much better right side up either. Luffy managed a groan, sending bubbles from his mouth. Again, he thought of turning to his true form, but risked losing the advantages his human form, until he returned to Ace and Sabo, anyway. He didn't really want to go that route.

Luckily, outside of his wooden prison, one of the various pirates sitting below deck caught a fistful from his crewmate, who returned in kind with another punch, which missed one pirate, but connected with another. And in no time, there was a full-scale brawl breaking out, and in this chaos, one of the many pirates took up on of the barrels (Luffy's) and tossed at into the nearest wall while trying to take out someone else. The barrel and its contents went sailing into the wall, and the former splintered as it made contact at full force. Finally, Luffy was free from his barrel prison, covered in ale with fur and hair sticking matted to his skin. He made a mental note, sitting there in the ruins of the barrel and amongst various brawlers that hiding in a barrel was not one of his best plans. He made a mental note right there to not repeat said mistake, and to consider going over his plans more thoroughly in the future. Maybe he could've just hidden in the bathroom.

Luffy found the will to sit up, look around, and immediately found his target. A mess where the dining table had to have been, tons of food still littering around the area, and certainly enough of it for Luffy to gorge himself on. Pushing past the unconscious bodies of drunken pirates, Luffy amassed a sizeable pile of food, sitting protectively in front of it while he chowed down. He was far too focused on taking in as much food as possible, so much so the even notice that the fighting died down as one by one, each pirate noticed the small stowaway.

Even as they began to stand around him, practically towering over him, Luffy's eyes stayed focused on the food he stuffed down his throat. It wasn't even until someone behind him spoke up that he even dared look away. With a slightly full stomach, and his most signature grin, Luffy looked up to the pirate calling his attention, still holding handfuls of various meats. "Hey!" he chirped, seeming wholly unaware of the danger. His tail twisted flippantly, even as he was picked up by the front of his shirt. "You're a yokai, right? Are you some kind of stupid?" Luffy wasn't really allowed a moment to answer before the pirate continued, shaking Luffy as his drunken anger redirected itself to the yokai. "How'd you get on our ship?"

Luffy couldn't really think of an answer, the fat happiness of food was beginning to agree with the damage he should've taken from his little tumble earlier. That is to say, he was practically out of it at this point. His silence and smug expression only managed to further the pirate's anger. "Alright, we're going to throw him overboard! Come on, men!" Luffy couldn't even really process what was going on, everything happening far too fast for him to catch up. As he was being carried away, Luffy saw exactly how far out they were.

The ocean stretched around them for miles, and looked to continue on forever. Nothing but sky and ocean, and the occasional flying animal or spirit in the sky, or even the odd shadowy figure under the ocean far in the distance. It was then that Luffy realized just how deep this whole situation had gotten, and exactly what his position in all of this was. If he didn't find a way out of here, he would be deep in water over his head.

The crew had taken their initial confusion, and turned it into the rioting voice that followed their friend to the broad side of the ship. The pirate held Luffy over the side, seeming to tease him as he was forced to look into the waters below. Luffy was beginning to wish he could answer them, however there was a slight problem. He was captured, and as a Fūseijou, when captured, he really couldn't do more than be embarrassed. In fact, he couldn't even speak, aside from the slightly nervous laughter that occasionally escaped his throat. Luffy began to try and call back happier memories, of hanging out with Ace and Sabo, and pranking Dadan, and eating with Makino…anything to take his mind away from the fact that he may very soon meet Death. The pirate holding him wound up his arm, and cast away. At that moment, Luffy remembered being thrown into the air, but instead of splashing into the ocean, or even being immediately eaten by some monster, force pulled him back, crashing onto the deck. And he wasn't the only one as the pirates around him began to tumble onto their knees as well.


	2. Chapter 2: Kind of a Bitch

Ace encountered a true and blue problem with their one noble mission. Even as he and Sabo headed out straight after finding out that Luffy was taken, the only clues they had were that he'd been taken onto a ship. A pirate ship. Ace scoffed, waiting for Sabo to come back from telling Dadan the unfortunate news. He'd tried to get a read on where their little brother had gone, looking from a bird's eye view, and it was there that he realized… there were a multitude of ships, and more than half of them were pirate ships. And many pirates weren't the best at differentiating from one another in terms of design or style, at least not the less important ones. After getting his frustrations out in the form of a roar that rose the air around him to 300℉/149℃ degrees. He glowered on the ground at the memory, smoke once again curling from his nostrils, and out of his mouth.

Sabo tapped his brother tentatively on the shoulder. Allowing Ace a moment to calm down, he went ahead and said his piece, "I told Dadan. She said go ahead and bring him back as soon as we could. And that we could all be punished together when we got back." Ace shrugged. Appreciating their caretaker's take on the matter. "Well, trying to track him from the docks will get us nowhere. We've got no idea what the ship looks like that he was taken in." Ace muttered, sighing shortly after. "So I guess that means we just have to keep an open ear. And we'll just need to keep an eye out for the ship that's looks to be in the most trouble, that will be the one that Luffy's on. That boy attracts trouble." Ace nodded, burning away his form to take into the air, "I'll drink to that one."

As they discussed their plan further in the air, Sabo and Ace decided that their main priority would be ships sailing pirate flags, that seemed to be caught up in internal turmoil. The kind that could only be caused by a chaotic little winged monkey boy. As ridiculous as it sounded. But of course, that would be coming from the two brightly colored dragons whipping through the air like twin ribbons.

 _~Monkey Boy~_

Luffy crashed into the bulwark opposite from where he was nearly thrown into the ocean. Through searing pain, he saw other pirates attempting to right themselves from similar tumbles. A pirate sitting in the ship's crow's nest called down to the others, "Men! We're being boarded!" There were calls to attention after that, some concerned cries, and moans of pain at the sudden action. Luffy could only half-hear any of it, instead trying to stand to his feet. He found his ground pulling himself up, just in time to watch everything go down. The ship had apparently been rammed into by a much larger vessel, and it seemed as if the air had changed with the new arrival.

The sky had literally darkened, as to why, Luffy could guess from first glance. He could only really see the front of the ship. From Luffy's vantage point, he only saw the large wall that made up the bow of the ship. Glistening bright against what seemed to be black paint, the bow of the ship was wide, built out more on both side, where there also seemed to be red paint. The only thing that pulled him out of his musings was the nearby screech of a pirate behind him. "It's a monster!" he had yelled. Luffy had no idea what that meant at all, until he followed his original gaze up. Taller than the ship he stood on, taller that the opposing ship, and yet still seemingly a part of it, there was the monster. A large green serpent that could have easily doubled as one of the Dragon King's own, held its long neck over the forecastle. Luffy covered his mouth, and found himself frozen to the deck. He'd never seen this manner of beast, and his body couldn't decide whether to be terrified or in awe. This was the beast that had actually managed to block out the sun.

The stalemate going on inside of him was broken when one courageous man pushed him out of the way, attempting to get a shot at the beast hovering over his ship. Luffy stumbled back onto his butt, eyes never wavering from the beast in front of him. The pirate was armed with a standard rifle, already cocking it and aiming towards the large yellow eye that looked eagerly onto the deck. Luffy found himself standing at once, just as the gun fired, and pushing the rifle straight up. "Boy! What is wrong with you!?" The man screamed, once again attempting to shove Luffy out of the way, but he stayed where he was this time. "Do you want both of us to die! Let me shoot!"

The ship shook again, causing a misfire in the rifle that was aimed right for the sail, and disappeared from sight before either man could see where it went. "Dammit!" The pirate growled, trying to once again ready his gun, and was immediately rewarded for his efforts. At the very moment he held the trigger under his finger, the pirate's head was met with an arrow, pushing through his skull, and pinning him down. Blood sprouted from the area like a fountain, and Luffy was close enough to get sprayed. Just as the first arrow sailed into the ship, dozens began to rain from the new ship, lucky ones pierced pirates and pinned them to the floor or threw them overboard, unlucky ones… there were fewer of those.

Luffy was incredible lucky, sitting in the one spot where arrows missed, and where less people were. And he sat, in the blood of the dead man beside him. There were no words, no thoughts that attempted to form, not even a joke to tell himself to attempt lightening the mood. Luffy was not one for hurting others, and even less for the deaths of others. He had nothing for this new element that he was forcibly exposed to. However, he still had to escape, especially when the arrows began to land closer to his location, screwing the need his human form served, Luffy tore the blade of grass that balanced on his forehead to the ground, reverting to his smaller monkey form, which allowed him a smaller service area to get shot in. He ran into the nearest crevice on the deck that he could find. A small hole in the bulkhead of the ship that led into the interior.

Luffy scrunched himself together as best as he could. He even closed his eyes. Even in this form he was still covered in blood, and it was already mixing with the ale stuck on his fur and drying. The smell was horrid. He only hoped he could stay hidden from whatever was shooting those arrows, and whatever that large serpent monster was. Obviously, they weren't friendly, and he didn't have access to anything that could stop them from killing him. The screams of the pirates as they tried to survive the brutal, random onslaught of their ship echoed as they died off. Until there was no sound.

Then there was, quieter than the screams, and the waves, and the whistling of arrows, this was almost like the sound of feet. Very soft feet. Luffy didn't dare to open his eyes, if the pirates on this ship were readily willing to drown him, he didn't want to imagine what the group behind this attack was capable of. The sound of feet seemed close for a moment, then further away for a long time, so long that Luffy actually began to loosen up. "They left, didn't they?" he questioned, a hopeful tinge to his small voice. From his little hiding place, Luffy squeezed his head out of the hole, cautiously looking in all directions. The silence did continue, so he could only assume that the invaders had left. Leaving him with a new predicament. As said as it was, Luffy would have to attempt sailing back to Windmill Village on his own.

Squeezing the rest of his body out of his hiding place, Luffy opted to stay low to the ground. Not for any one particular reason, but he didn't want to catch the attention of any survivors of the ship, and risk incurring the wrath simply because he was a yokai. He made his way onto the deck, weaving around the dead figures for cover on the open deck. Luffy stopped when he saw that the monster from before was still present, hovering over the deck. He felt his stomach drop when he saw that the monster's large eyes were also straight on him. Neither creature made a sound, simply staring at each other. What happened next depended on who moved first.

That honor went to Luffy, as his feet cramped from a prolonged stationary position. He stepped forward quickly, but in their little game, it registered as his move, and the monster returned in kind. Its head lowered so that it rested on the deck fully, and a long, bright pink tongue flung out of its mouth, goofily laying on the deck like a waterslide. All in all, it looked perfectly safe. Luffy couldn't really guess why, but he did feel a bit safer. He stepped closer, remembering that the serpent might not see him as much of a threat, solely due to his actions in saving its life earlier from the pirate. _Yokai gotta stick together_ , he figured, head cocking to the right as he now stood still in front of the beast. "Hi." He managed, actually surprised that the simple look in the eyes of the beast seemed to mark its understanding.

"You won't eat me?" he asked, cautiously moving closer. This could be his way off of the boat and back to Windmill Village. The serpent did the equivalent of a shake of its massive head, and Luffy stepped closer, a little less and less weary the longer he stayed alive. Luffy tested the boundary, jumping high into the air, and landing squarely on top of the large serpent's nose. "Yeah… A full front-row seat from here. It must be fun, being able to swim, huh?" The serpent simply shook its entire head, in the way that a dog does after a bath.

Another silence took hold of the two of them, this time a more comfortable one. "Does this happen everywhere you go?" Luffy questioned, gaze falling on the bodies laying still on the deck below them. Whether he saw it or not, the serpent below him just kept its gaze towards whatever lay in front of it. "That's rough, buddy." Luffy mused, tail flicking. While the larger monster didn't answer, Luffy just felt better pretending there was someone else to talk to. Especially if that someone wasn't trying to kill him.

"I-" before Luffy could even finish his sentence, something caught his tail, forcing him into the air. As his breath caught in his throat, Luffy tried to right himself immediately. He swung aimlessly for a few moments, and over the pounding of his heart in his ears, he heard a voice. "What's this? I figured we had a _stowaway_ , there was no way voices were coming from down here." Despite every bone in his body screaming the opposite, Luffy attempted to get a look at the face of captor, immediately regretting doing so. He was met with the face of a terrifying woman, and not just that. She was a Naga, a fearsome half-serpent woman, and she had an almost eerie smile as she swung Luffy back and forth. "HEY~!" he called, trying to regain his bearings.

Whatever occupied the woman's thought before Luffy's outburst, she immediately forgot. In place of that, she looked over the side of the larger serpent's head, towards the ocean, "I can let you go." She offered, after which Luffy could see her arm begin to slack. "No! Are you crazy!? I'll die!" The woman almost pouted in response, then almost tauntingly, "Maybe _that's_ I what I want you to do?" Luffy made the mistake of tensing up, and showing his fear, to which the woman laughed. "Be glad it's only me…" she stated, voice darkening slightly, "Drowning is slightly less painful than being run through with an arrow." Luffy didn't agree, and while both were equally painful, drowning was much worse in his mind. However, in lieu of his situation, he kept his thoughts internal.

And for the second time in one day, Luffy felt the sensation of being slung back, ready for his inevitable fate at the bottom of the ocean. And for the second time that day, he was spared. This time, the monkey boy was saved by someone else, calling up to where his life was hanging by a tail. "Hey! What are you doing over there? Come on deck, we're leaving!" The grip that nearly loosened on his tail immediately tightened, and while he got slight whiplash from the instance, he did not go sailing into the blue abyss. Small victories.

The woman held Luffy in front of her for a moment, as if deciding what to do with him, and her decision surprised him, "Stay quiet, that mouth will likely get you into trouble." She hung Luffy over her shoulder, releasing him and allowing him to balance on her shoulder. "You're keeping me alive?" Luffy whispered, to which the woman snorted, practically barking out "What did I say?" as she slithered up, or down the back of the large serpent. Said serpent was ascending from the deck of the ruined pirate vessel, and lifting to its full height on its own ship. Before he knew it, Luffy was on the deck of the Naga woman, and terrified to find out that it was only filled with more yokai women. He wanted to move, but considering he'd been given a rare bone out of death on multiple occasions, he couldn't see a better option for himself. Even if she was going to keep playing with his life, she was going to leave him alive just a bit longer than the ocean would have.

Not saying that the variety of monster women surrounding them wouldn't have something different to say, Luffy realized, attempting to make himself appear smaller on the one woman's shoulder. The Naga woman's laughter sounded eerily like a hiss, "You seemed worried." She mused. Luffy snorted in response, rolling his eyes, but keeping an eye out for if someone got too close. She might have sensed his weariness, as she took every possible advantage to stop and speak with a colleague. There were all different kinds and sizes of yokai here, and each one sent a chill up Luffy's more than the last. A long time had passed, possibly several hours before the Naga decided to take a break from her conversing, and walked off to somewhere more secluded. When she was sure she was by herself, she yanked Luffy right by his tail, placing him on the ground in front of her as she knelt. She squashed his tail into the ground with her strong hand, to make sure he didn't run off.

Seeing as there was no love lost on this woman, Luffy stated the most obvious, "You are an asshole!" he squeaked, glaring up at her. "You've noticed." was her only response. Luffy looked aghast for a second, surprised at her cold behavior, but immediately settled for a deep-set pout instead, "Aren't you going to throw me into the ocean?" The Naga woman shrugged, gaining another look from Luffy. "It's honestly more fun to see you squirm. I like to have fun before I kill." While hiding the lump that immediately formed in his throat, Luffy stammered on, "S-so you are going to kill me?" Again, the woman shrugged, "I'd like to think that at any moment, you'll probably have a heart attack. It's a win-win situation really."

Luffy was left in the hands of what could only be considered a sociopath. Of course, she could have been a psychopath, or both… He wasn't exactly the clearest with the terminology, but the point was that he was probably safer in the water. If he could transform, he could probably have turned into something more dangerous, and scared her off, then run away. But he still would have been. His wings were too small to fly in this form or any that he turned into, and he couldn't even pretend to know how to swim. "Veritably screwed" didn't even begin to cover it. And even if he scared her off, what then? There were like… dozens of others, probably with her same killing intent (if that poor group of nameless pirates was any indication) that could easily overpower him. This would be one of those situations were Sabo would consider a tactical retreat.

If Sabo were here. Then again, if Sabo were here, there wouldn't need to be a tactical retreat. They would have just flown out of here. And, since that usually meant that Ace wasn't too far behind, he would have laid down strong cover fire for their escape. If they were here… But they weren't. Luffy was here.

His captor had fleeting motivations for keeping him alive, she was entertained. So Luffy would be entertaining, it wasn't that hard for him. He'd been quiet for longer than he intended, the Naga had moved so that she was right in front of his face, "Boo." Luffy attempted to back away, failing to do so as he tripped over himself and hit his head on the deck. Sitting up immediately, Luffy scrunched up as small as possible while trying to nurse a new swollen lump, "Atatatatata!" The Naga burst into laughter, slumped over for a second, "What the hell is that look on your face?!" she managed after calming herself down.

Luffy looked up, halfway annoyed, and halfway to make sure his plan was going well. It was still rude, but she _did_ move her hand from where it was crushing his tail, so that was going into the win pile. "Huh?" she noticed that she'd moved too, and looked back, "You're just going to sit there?" Luffy looked around, removing his hands from his head, "Where am I going to go?" he offered. The woman had a more playful smirk this time when she smiled, "True. Come on then." She offered a hand, probably so that he could return to the quivering mess on her shoulder, but Luffy complied without fuss.

He attempted to sit up on her shoulder this time, but worried that it made him too visible to others. "They're not as dangerous as you'd like to think." Her voice came in booming beside him, and nearly caused him to jump, "That's just what you think." He muttered, watching as a yokai would look up to either wave or salute the Naga, then go about their business. There had to be at least one other person who could see Luffy and know something was wrong with this picture. "Are you some kind of shape-shifter?" once again, her voice took him off guard, but not as much as before, "What? Yes. Why do you want to know?"

"I thought you kind of looked like a tanuki? But I've never seen one with wings." She mused, looking up as if rolling the idea around her brain. "And it doesn't matter why I want you to talk now. Your heavy-breathing and clammy paws are irritating my skin." While those facts might have been true, he chose to ignore it. "I'm not a tanuki. I'm a furijo- a furisu… A Fūri." He ignored her taunting giggles at his butchering of the word Fūseijou. "But you said that you could shape-shift." Luffy nodded, then voiced, "Yeah, we can."

"Like a tanuki?" the offered response was. To which Luffy snorted, his fur ruffling, "No! Just because I can transform doesn't mean I'm a tanuki!" The Naga only laughed, "But you look like one!" Luffy scoffed, actually moving away from her shoulder to look at her face more, "That's your opinion, we're obviously different!"

"You have the same tail." She pointed to Luffy's small, fluffy tail as he walked out onto the opposite extended arm. "I just have lots of fur!"

"It's the same color brown." To which Luffy looked himself over, protesting "Brown is a very common color!" The Naga tilted her head to the side pretentiously, "Yeah, sure, sure. What about your ears?"

"I am a monkey!" he countered, to which the Naga held him up by his tail, taunting with "Because you _look_ like a monkey."

Luffy fumed, not even aware that he'd been walked straight into public view, and placed down on a nearby barrel. The Naga had even called someone over while he sputtered, "So you're a monkey, how am I supposed to know?" she questioned, a cocky grin, "Does this look like a monkey to you?" She questioned a woman next to her, the appearance of which finally caught Luffy's attention. Another Naga, probably bigger than the first one, and just as mean-looking. "Where did this come from, sister?"

"A yokai treasure from that human pirate ship a little while ago. Don't you remember?" The new Naga looked Luffy over, more confused than the angry that Luffy had expected. "There was a yokai on that ship? The first Naga nodded, "This is that yokai. And, your questions aside, I would like to know… When you see this yokai, what do you think of?" The new arrival took a look at her companion, one that suggested a questioning of sanity, but complied. Her scrutinizing gaze now fell on Luffy, causing the boy to flinch. "Some sort of…monkey? I don't know, he's making a really ugly face right now."

The first Naga broke out into more laughter, whereas Luffy's face only scrunched up more at the insult. "Exactly! It's his face!" To which Luffy proceeded to stick his tongue out. The new Naga looked between the two of them, then deciding to talk with her companion, asked, "W-why is this here then?" Their taunting and teasing interrupted, the first Naga looked to the other, and shrugged, "I thought it'd be funny. He was hanging around our ship after that last raid. And… well, I don't know exactly. I thought it'd be interesting to have something to play with until we got back."

"I would rather you weren't distracted, we're still on the open ocean, anything could happen." The new Naga stated, grabbing the first's shoulder, and squeezing it tightly. "It will be fine. You act as if there's something out here that could stop us." The goofy smile and manner of the first Naga served to make the second roll her eyes, "… Keep out of trouble then. Overconfidence is not a suitable replacement for caution."

The first Naga nodded, waving away the other as she left, before turning back to Luffy. "…" The silence stayed for a few seconds, before Luffy interrupted, using one paw to point where the new Naga walked off, "Are you two related?"

"Rude." came the response, "Very rude." The Naga hauled Luffy up by his tail, holding him at eye level. "What a horrible assumption to make. Because we look similar, we must be related." Was this not the right assumption? And it certainly wasn't made because they were similar, Luffy could promise. In fact, aside from the scaly tail both woman possessed in place of legs, they couldn't have looked more different. The first Naga saw the look in Luffy's face, and plucked him, watching him spin helplessly in the air before. "For your information, Monkey Boy, we are related."

Luffy shrugged, eyes still spinning from earlier, "How was I supposed to know?" The Naga rolled her eyes, but before speaking she found herself caught. "Ah. I don't know, actually." She sighed, placing Luffy back on her shoulder, "Ah well…" Luffy was still amazed with how little she seemed to care for her actions, or for others in general. Heck, minutes ago she was blatantly ignoring what might have been sound advice from her own sister, all for shits and giggles.

Those shits and giggles continued, as the Naga moved around the ship once more, this time, attempting to either goad Luffy into action, or prompting him to make weird faces through violence. As ridiculed as he felt by the time the sun had gone down, he'd created a small reputation as the "monkey boy". At the very least, he was alive, and would be kept alive. The Naga even rewarded him with tidbits of information when they were enjoying downtime and dinner. Things like where he was, where the ship was heading, what the Naga's name was. The answer to these being:

1.) He was in a ship by the name of Nine Snake, sailing in what was called Paradise, a part of the ocean notorious for strong yokai, strong pirates, and extensive military. (It was also horribly far away from Windmill Village. When that pirate ship made tracks, it made tracks.)

2.) They were headed for a place called Amazon Lily. (also, far away from Windmill Village)

3.) The Naga was called Sandersonia, or just Sonia as her sister called her. The sister, was named Marigold. Most people called them Sandersonia and Marigold.

He now sat, given a rather large piece of meat, on top of the table where Sandersonia was sitting. Marigold sat across from her, and while not thrilled by Luffy's unwarranted appearance, she begrudgingly accepted it. "We've got another few days before we get back to Amazon Lily." She stated, almost like a report, making Luffy wonder if Sandersonia was supposed to be some type of authority. "All of our spoils have been counted and stored, ready for transport." Sandersonia only nodded along to whatever her sister said. Halfway not paying attention, seeming more interested in her food and drink.

"I think that the Snake Princess wants to see you, also." Marigold finished, looking anywhere but her sister's face. Sandersonia seemed to be paying attention again, almost immediately. She nearly sent Luffy's food sprawling to the floor when she sat up, "Really?! When did she say that?" Marigold cleared her throat, "Almost two hours ago, now. I was going to say something to you, but you were preoccupied, and I couldn't find you for a little while-" Even as she spoke, Sandersonia, had already stood from the table, she nearly zoomed away, whipping away from the table and quick enough to send wind shooting Luffy to the ground on his ass. "Stay with Mari, I'll be back in a little."

With that, she left. Luffy and Marigold shared a look, although both had different connotations. Luffy was confused, while Marigold seemed to be mentally apologizing for Sandersonia's abrupt departure. "…" Luffy looked to his food, then around. No one else seemed affected by the outburst, still going about their business. "Uh…" He was drawing blanks for anything to say. Marigold was not her sister by any means, different hair, a more serious facial expression, and larger frame made just a tad bit more intimidating than that of the incredibly tall and wiry Sandersonia. Plus, Sandersonia never said her sister wouldn't hurt him, and Luffy preferred those types of things written in stone.

"…Oh! Uh, I mean- There's a princess on the ship then? Like right now?" Luffy literally snapped his fingers as he came up with his new topic starter. Marigold nodded, sipping some of the cup in front of her. "Yes, the Snake Princess. The princess usually accompanies us on these voyages." Luffy nodding, feigning as much interest as he could, "Oh. Well it must be difficult to keep a guard around her at all times, huh?" Marigold shook her head, and for a moment, Luffy swore he saw the look of genuine fear, "No…she can take care of herself." The last part of that sentence being said quieter than the first. After such a cryptic statement, Marigold left Luffy to wonder what that meant. Cue another awkward silence, that is, until Sandersonia returned.

"Sandersonia! /Sonia!" both Luffy and Marigold exclaimed at the same time. Both were relieved that she'd returned. "Hey. I wasn't gone all that long, you two." She said, taking her seat again. "What did the Snake Princess want?" Luffy asked, head tilting somewhat. Given what he'd gleamed from Marigold, he wondered what type of princess Sandersonia had gone to deal with. "Uh, nothing. She was just wondering where I'd gone for most of the day." Marigold also seemed eager to know what happened, "And what did you tell her?"

"Only that I'd been wandering all day amongst the other warriors and lost track of time." Sandersonia responded, taking up a particularly large cup that wasn't hers before and taking a long draw from it. Luffy seemed more curious, she'd told a half-lie. "You didn't say that you were exploiting me for cheap comedy?" he questioned, pretending to be more interested in his food. "Ah, no. She probably wouldn't have liked that." Marigold to agree, returning to her own meal like she'd just received a satisfying answer. "What? Is this princess of yours not very fond monkeys?" Sandersonia shrugged off the question, "Something like that." Luffy gave her a look, he wanted to press the issue, if only to be annoying, "Why's that?"

"She can be a kind of a hassle, sometimes." she murmured through chunks of food. Marigold seemed to be side-eyeing her, as if waiting for something.

"You mean, she can be kind of a _bitch_ , right?" Luffy questioned, innocently enough.

"…Sure, let's go with what you said." came the response.


	3. Chapter 3: The Tip of the Iceberg

Marigold instantly hit Sandersonia with her tail, under the table, causing it to jump slightly, and Luffy to stumble. "Watch your tongue!" she hissed, to which Sandersonia looked around quickly before nodding her head in apology, "That was out of turn, forgive me." Luffy only looked between the two of them puzzled, as he regained steady footing. "What's wrong?" Marigold shook her head, "Nothing. It's fine." Knowing he wouldn't get anything out her, he moved to sit in front of Sandersonia. "I just said something that I didn't mean." She mused, looking past him and at the large cup beside him, "Never mind it." She continued, taking up the cup and taking a large swig from it.

"Well, but-" he started, only to get cut off when she practically dropped the cup onto the table again. When he looked between the cup and her face, she had the dilated pupils of someone who didn't want to talk about it. She did, however, still want to talk, as she started happily with "So, considering you've gotten names out of us, what is yours?" Luffy looked around, tight-lipped, before looking back with blank innocence, "Huh? Oh, I'm Monkey D. Luffy." Sandersonia laughed, though it sounded a bit hollower, "Tch. So, Monkey was pretty damn fitting then." Luffy rolled his eyes, sporting a pout as he continued, "Whatever."

"Whatever indeed," Sandersonia continued, "And, considering you also know about my sister here, I wonder if you have any other siblings?" Luffy was caught off guard at the question. He hadn't really thought about either of his brothers in what he now knew was a few hours. If she was trying to bait him off the conversation, then she'd done a rather successful job. But Luffy made a mental note to find out more about this princess person later. "Yeah, two siblings." Sandersonia's eyes lit up, having found another conversation to grab onto, "Oh! Younger or older?"

"Older." He responded, and Sandersonia let out another laugh, "I wonder how they must feel, knowing you left to join a pirate ship all by yourself." In all honesty, Luffy didn't know. They had a history of over-reacting actually, and in this situation, he could only imagine how they had to be reacting.

 _~Double Dragon~_

It had to have been a little over four days, by Ace's measuring. Luffy had gone missing four days ago. Accidentally getting himself kidnapped on a pirate ship. One with no discerning markings. He and Sabo had been searching nonstop all this time. They would raid ships, essentially, Ace could provide a pretty effective cover fire and distraction, while Sabo simply walked in, looked around, and then left to deliver a "yay" or "nay". Usually it was the latter, and in more recent checks, that meant that the ship would suffer horrific burns, along with most of its crew. They'd stopped at an island to get their bearings, eat and regroup.

Sabo would go into town under human guise, ask around, steal supplies, or pay for them with golden scales, then return to where Ace hid in any nearby forest or secluded area. Ace had not even considered turning into a human guise to go with Sabo. He was far too angry all the type, and couldn't hold the form long enough before he burned it away. After a few tries, Sabo insisted he stay, and wait. Ace liked that idea even less. He'd already lost track of one brother, and not keeping an eye out for the other was not helpful. "Ace! Hey!" Sabo's voice reached Ace before the yokai himself physically appeared some ways away from him on a path nearby.

"Sabo! Did you find anything?" Ace called, his body winding around itself in anticipation. "I got food, and drinks. There wasn't much else there in terms of answers." Sabo stated, placing the items he'd gotten on the ground in front of his brother. "Dammit!" Ace exclaimed, making sure to aim the fire erupting from his body away from Sabo, "Almost five days, and nothing!" His motions became more tense the long he was settled, realizing this, Ace took flight, not high or far, but enough to begin sending dirt and grass flying. Sabo sighed himself.

While he was not as angry as Ace was at the turn of events, he had long passed being just worried. His sleep schedule was nonexistent, and while Ace was eating, he tactfully evaded the exercise. Sabo was supposed to be a representation of good luck. Fortune crossed the paths of all who saw him, and yet it did not see to grace him with its presence. "That's just means we need to head out again. Come on, Ace. We need to eat so we can leave, you're burning off tons of energy." Ace looked to his golden brother, and Sabo continued, "We're getting closer. We'll have to find signs of him soon."

"Unless we spent all our time going in the opposite direction." Ace muttered, touching his claws to the ground tentatively. "So what if we did? We just turn in another direction, and keep looking." Sabo responded, nearly automatically. They'd been having a similar argument for hours. "We waste too much time sitting around." Ace sat in front of his brother, his height on all fours equal to that of Sabo's human guise, "This is getting us nowhere, Sabo." He stated through gritted teeth. Ace believed that even if they asked around towns, that it wouldn't matter if someone was hiding Luffy. While Sabo agreed with this, he did not agree with Ace's consistent idea to simply burn through towns with reckless abandon until they found their brother.

"We don't need the attention." Sabo retorted, drawing up to full height as well, now towering over Ace, with blinding golden light to add intimidation. I they went with Ace's plan, they ran the risk of being hunted down for a string of murders. They could kill as many pirates as they wanted, but if they began to take out civilians, they'd be on the run and that more distracted from their search. While the tedious nature of this way of searching sought to slowly kill them both on the inside, it was going to literally kill them. "We have to trust the fact that Luffy's trying to get back to us just as eagerly as we are trying to reach him." Sabo insisted, taking off into the air with their items, Ace would follow behind.

~Monkey Boy~

Luffy had managed to get caught up, both in talking about his own brothers, and listening to Marigold and Sandersonia talk as well. He told stories of the pranks he'd get into, how he'd pull his brothers into it, and how he'd get punished afterwards. And Sandersonia found an interest in this, surprised that he was actually so juvenile in nature. "You don't seem like the type to join a pirate ship!" she'd laughed, and Luffy remembered that he hadn't said anything about _why_ he was on that pirate ship. Even though he _did_ tell them that's he'd been bathing in ale for a good long time, which Sandersonia had guessed and laughed at. Luffy sat up from where he was at the table, excitement fluffing up his fur, "OH! Yeah, I was not on that pirate ship because I wanted to!" he started, actually looking back at the instance now and laughing, as he told them about how he'd been kidnapped accidentally. " _What_?" Sandersonia exclaimed, Marigold having the same expression, "You were kidnapped on accident?" Luffy's confirmation only sent them into more hysteric laughter, Luffy joining in with them as well.

When they'd taken a minute to catch their breath and gather their thoughts, Marigold spoke up, "In all seriousness, if you were kidnapped, I'm sure your brothers are looking for you." Luffy nodded, a type of vital look in his eyes, "Yeah, they probably are." Sonia spoke up this time, "Well, we can't exactly turn around for you, but we might be able to do something when we get to Amazon Lily." Luffy looked up to her expectantly, "Really?!"

"Yes. You've served your purpose, I think, and it's not like we could just keep you on the island. The Princess really wouldn't like that." Luffy hadn't been able to get much more out of Sandersonia on that whole kerfuffle from before, but he nodded regardless. She was offering to help, why would he get in the way of that? "That would be awesome! Thanks!" Luffy replied, eyes practically gleaming with the hope that he'd be reunited with his brothers soon. Sandersonia nodded her agreement, before returning to a more relaxed state, "Christ! It's been a day for sure!" she mused, barely suppressing a yawn. "Luffy, would you mind if you just slept in here?"

"Slept in here?" Luffy looked around, despite all the glorious food he could use as a midnight snack, it was _still_ a kitchen, "Sure. But why?" Sandersonia gave him a look that hinted at the obvious, but it had just missed over Luffy's head. "…Because, we don't have a room for you on the ship, and you're not sharing with anyone." Luffy's eyes lit up like a child, if said child had just been given crucial information about Santa Claus, "Oh! Yeah, if you just want me to stay in here, that's cool! I'll get to stay around all this food!" Marigold intervened, turning Luffy to face her, "I'm glad we've got no argument there, but please don't just rummage through the kitchen eating whatever you want." Luffy nodded.

As the dining room thinned out, until most everyone had left except for Luffy, Sandersonia, and Marigold, Luffy looked around. "So, You guys are heading to bed, right? When are we going to get started on sending me home tomorrow?" Sandersonia sighed, now unable to keep down a yawn that successfully shook all of her scales and the table that Luffy stood on. "Ah…When I wake up, I'll come here and get you, alright? Just don't leave this area, okay?" Luffy rolled his eyes, they'd already hit home about what he was allowed and not allowed to do in their absence. They were starting to sound like his brothers.

Luffy waved the two Naga off, looking around the table for a bit before finding his own sleeping spot. He launched himself from the table, furry body softening his landing onto the floor. Luffy was told that he couldn't eat _all_ of the food in the kitchen, however, that didn't mean that he wasn't allowed to eat at all. Plus, getting back to his brothers would no doubt be a harrowing task, and he would have to find a way to get his strength and energy up. Content in his reasoning, Luffy ran from the large dining room to the kitchen, the two room being separated by a bar and a large set of double doors, finding it was easy. The open bar window was closed, and as Luffy flung himself onto the counter, he realized that he might not be enough to open it. Despite this, Luffy made sure by ramming into it a few times before solidifying his decision. With a sore shoulder, Luffy hopped down to the floor again, looking around for something to help him get into the kitchen.

He tried as much as he could. In his small form, Luffy couldn't really lift big chairs, or anything. And all the dishes and silverware was put away. So, there was nothing around his size to level with. Luffy had begun to consider ramming into the door, when he heard a noise behind him. Luffy immediately went into action, scattering underneath the nearest table and settling. Sure, most everyone on the ship knew he was here at that point, but he was fairly sure only Sandersonia and Marigold had authorized his being in the kitchen/dining room this late.

Luffy took initiative, peering from his vantage point, and watching as light flooded into the dining room from door. He moved as much as he could, trying to get sight of the new entry into the room, but he could only see the stretch of legs along the floor. When he tried to look up, he found that the silhouette of the door blocked the figure from his view. Grunting, Luffy sent himself further under the table. His only option was to wait out the night visitor, and resume his activities after they had left. He found this impossible, as it seemed to be that the person, wasn't leaving anytime soon. They had reached the door to the kitchen, or at least, their shadow had.

Luffy peered out from beneath his hiding spot again, this time, to see what the shadowy figure would do. To his dismay, the figure was now sitting in the shadows far beyond the reach of the door. And was thusly, fully covered in shadows. However, Luffy was willing to forgive the frustration, if the figure was able to open the kitchen. Luffy would be able to take advantage of that, and could easily forgive any man (woman, specifically in this case) who could lead him to food. The sound of effort exerted on the door took Luffy by surprise, as he hadn't expected such a loud noise. It dragged like a chair being scraped along the ground.

The noise didn't persist for long, immediately quieting and dispersing back into stillness. However, cold air began to pour into the dining room immediately. Luffy wanted to hope that the kitchen had been opened, but as his fur shook, he began to reconsider. If they kitchen was that cold the food wouldn't really be worth it… Luffy's thoughts were interrupted as his eyes darted to the shadow on the ground. It grew smaller, disappearing completely almost, but the sound of someone shuffling remained, though it also began to fade.

Luffy had to take the chance that his body might get a bit cold. He really wanted a snack. Like _really_ , it had been a blessing that he was allowed to eat as much as he had at dinner, but that didn't stop the fact that he still hadn't eaten for _days_ before that. He just needed to sneak in, that was the only thought on his mind as he broke into a sprint. Running from his hiding spot, Luffy ran into the direction the shadowy figure had run. Practically wincing as the floor immediately became cold under his paws. Jumping the threshold, Luffy managed to choke out a strange noise as the floor went from coarse wood to smooth tile. The sudden change sent Luffy sprawling onto his side, nearly gliding across the floor like a mop or broom, and crashing into the cabinets. Ungracefully, Luffy screeched upon contact, gaining the attention of the night visitor if his initial squeak hadn't already managed that. Luffy hardly saw the figure, but in his daze, he only managed to see bright glowing, almost similarly to lanterns in the middle of the night. This managed to draw forth one more screech from Luffy, but it was immediately cut off. In the latest instance of his tail being grabbed, this probably felt the most violent. He was torn upwards almost as if throwing a grenade into the air. A shadow smashed across his face, succeeding in knocking the wind right out of him.

In pure panic, Luffy attempted to find the face of his assailant, only able to make out the same glowing lanterns from before, only that much closer, and that much more terrifying. He might have attempted to scream, but the possible concussion that might have had prevented him from doing so. The shadow figure stared intently at the form in its hands, eyes moving rapidly up and down Luffy's form. The scrutiny of this stranger's gaze, forced Luffy to look down. This cycle of capture and entrapment had no yet run its course, as the stranger began to walk to a certain part of the kitchen. There were no protests made as the figure stopped at one wall, leaning forward for a moment, and switched on the lights.

Oddly enough, the fear in Luffy's heart only intensified when he was actually able to see the figure in its entirety. A woman, or rather, he hoped as much. She honestly looked more like a demon with the face she was giving him. She also finally removed her hand, and the pressure from Luffy's face. "Who…are you?" she questioned, seeming to try and keep her composure. Luffy couldn't really manage any words, mostly because the pain in his face was so intense. And he couldn't be sure that she wouldn't hit him in the face again if he did speak. Luffy really didn't know how to explain it, anyways. He was kind of surprised, this woman seemed to take it as a personal offense that he was here. Even the women who weren't aware that he was here at first weren't so angry. Most of them looked confused, but after a vouch from Sandersonia, they let it slide.

Maybe that was the difference, Luffy wondered, maybe it was the fact that Sandersonia was not personally introducing or vouching for Luffy's presence. Adamant in his reasoning, he figured that Sandersonia would be able to help him out if she were able. The woman might not have been willing to wait that long, as she immediately began to tighten her grip on Luffy's form. She was going to squeeze him to death! The realization was first blocked by Luffy's insistent thought that squeezing him to death would be impossible. Until of course, she began to accomplish just that. Luffy could feel his breathing begin to shallow, and a ringing began to start up in his ears. This and the earlier trauma he suffered were beginning to work in tandem to end his life.

Luckily, either it was real, or he was beginning to hallucinate, but he heard a voice. A voice coming from slightly behind his assailant. Shouting wasn't exactly the right word to describe what they were doing. The newcomer was more alarmed, than anything else. Fortunately for Luffy, of all the things that person was probably saying, one of them was to let him go. He fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes, rightfully slumping over on himself as air filled his lungs once more. Although the pounding in his head did worsen, he took that as a sign of life.

Once again, he found his voice, just to hear a familiar voice trying to talk down his would-be assassin. "Please, don't kill him! He's just-"

"Him? He?! Do you hear yourself right now?" the supposed voice of the aggressor. She didn't even sound mad. Just puzzled. Hell, if Luffy wasn't a pivotal part of the current situation, he'd be wondering exactly what could possibly be wrong. Sandersonia stood in the doorway, she didn't seem upset either, oddly enough. She just looked…tired might've been the best way to describe it. Her body language was static, she looked as if she'd been caught between a rock and a hard place. Even through his state of exhaustion and being nearly concussed (or far beyond it) Luffy tried to listen in on their discussion.

"-sorry. I know that this seems a bit out-of-character-" Sandersonia started, once being interrupted, "This is _very_ out of character. Especially for you. You mean well, Sonia, but you could very well be putting us all in danger."

"I would never!" Sonia cried out, distress seeming to rise in her voice. Luffy could only guess that she knew this woman personally. "Of course not. But, in failing to do what you should have done as soon as you knew something was wrong…well, you've left this matter up to me." Sandersonia's eyes seemed to widen at whatever the implications of the woman's words were. If Luffy had the energy, he might've put together the smartest course of action: Running and finding a way off of this ship as soon as possible.

But he didn't, in fact, Luffy managed to sit in uncomfortable, ignorant silence just long enough to once again be captured in the woman's grip, long nails digging into his fur like knives. His protest was weak, but he tried it anyway. "Sonia, don't worry about this anymore. I'll take this… thing away from you, and we can forget all about it. We have more pressing manners to attend to, regardless." The woman nearly waked past Sandersonia and through the door before Sandersonia caught hold of the arm that held Luffy, "What is it that you're planning to do, Princess?"

"I'm simply going to kill him. I do not wish to do this in front of you, or simply go kill him in the kitchen. Our food comes from there." Her response was simple, and infuriating all in just a few simple sentences. Luffy nearly managed the strength to speak for himself, Sandersonia took the initiative, however.

"Princess, that's… that's not necessary." This _Princess_ paused, now half-turning to Sandersonia, "And why not?" As Luffy looked up, he could see that Sandersonia was stuck, and couldn't think of anything to dig either of them out of this hole. Thankfully, it was not simply the two of them depending on whatever was said next. "Because that is no way to treat a gift of this caliber." Marigold's form blocked the Princess's exit even further, casting a shadow over the two of them. "Mari…" the princess muttered, almost in some brilliant realization that she'd been caught doing something she shouldn't have. The princess's voice resumed its previous tone, "Surely, you've seen me do worse with presents. And I could hardly call this a-"

"Sonia and I got it for you. She said she picked it up, yes?" Marigold offered a hand in Sandersonia's direction, the other Naga simply nodding a bit eagerly in confirmation. "Yes. She said something about pilfering it from one of our conquests a while back." When the princess confirmed Sandersonia's "story", Marigold continued, "We thought it might be nice for you to have something like this. Couldn't tell you its purpose in the slightest." Marigold gently free Luffy from the princess's grip, then proceeded to stretch his already decimated face into a funnier one as much as she could, "It's good for a few laughs, we thought, and it can apparently shapeshift into more hilarious shapes according to its own admission." Marigold looked between the princess and Luffy before adding, "We had no idea it was male, until a small time after."

That little lie hurt more than most of the pain that Luffy had received in the past few hours. Yes, he was a boy, and it was a rather obvious fact. His hurt feelings aside, Marigold finally released his face, holding him in both hands, before holding Luffy out to the Princess. Luffy nearly started to mention how bad of an idea that would be, but a glimpse at the desperation and panic in Sandersonia's face convinced him differently. The princess looked Luffy over again, looking more disappointed than anything. Whether that was in the quality of the gift, or the fact that she couldn't kill him, that was anyone's guess.

"I… Why did you get me a gift?" she questioned after a very rude, long staring contest, "It was your birthday only a small while ago," Marigold offered, "we were a little caught up, and thought a present like this might make up for it." Whatever energy made up her wrath earlier, the princess was all but cleared of it at this point. Her confusion still ringing out as she actually forced her arms up to accept Luffy from Marigold. "…Thank you." She mused, inspecting him for the fourth time, not unlike a child with an unusual present in their hands. Luffy attempted with thinly veiled patience to ignore her jeering look. "Though I suppose, if you would like Princess, we could always get you another present, and you can go ahead and get rid of this one." What was meant to be a scream coming from Luffy's mouth sounded more like a strangled cry. _Why would you give her the option of killing and not killing!? The killing is what she wanted to do!_ Luffy couldn't even formulate the words inside his head, instead, the strangled cry transformed into a long, anguished squeak.

The princess seemed to take this in for a moment, looking between Luffy and Marigold, and even casting a glimpse in Sandersonia's direction. "You two wanted to give this to me as a present, right?" Immediately Sandersonia began to nod, a rather panicked nod, but Luffy was grateful for her vote in all this. The princess sat in silence for a few more moments, lips pursed before holding Luffy closer to her chest, "Thank you. So much." Luffy looked to the princess and found someone just a tad bit more terrifying than the woman who had threatened to kill him numerous times that night. She… had to have been smiling, but something was off about it.

It was so… bright was probably the operative word, but fake seemed just a little more accurate. Luffy felt his spine just shake slightly as a chill made its way and up and down. He had this weird idea that maybe his life was teetering closer over the edge for some reason, despite the fact that at this point his life was assured. The princess looked between her sister with the same "bright smile", before handing him to Marigold. "He's actually really dingy looking, and his fur is unusually sticky. You should probably do something about that before handing him to me." She stated, not even missing a beat, in her movements, finally pushing past Marigold with powerful strides. "Thank you again, both of you."

Luffy looked up at Marigold holding him, the largest pout across his face. "Yeah, thanks a lot." he growled, angrily, to which the Naga bowed her head sheepishly, "…Sorry. This is probably the best outcome we could've hoped for." Sandersonia made her way over to Luffy, also wearing the same apologetic look, "It could've gone much worse." Luffy gave a more incredulous look, "How? She tried to kill me, multiple times, insulted me even more than that and you're going to give me to her as a _present_." His tail flicked irritably. "You just went along with it! She's horrible! You had to have felt how fake that performance was!" Both sisters looked between one another, then back to Luffy. Neither gave an explanation for their complacent behavior.

Luffy continued anyway, as he was the only one with something to say at the moment, "I mean, seriously! She'll probably just kill me when you two leave anyway!" In his rant, Luffy began to realize something that made his eyes widen, "And how exactly am I going to get home with her keeping me as some sort of pet?! You're still going to take me back home right?" Again, neither woman answered, and this time Luffy got quieter afterwards. "Great." He muttered, physically deflating at the thought that he'd been so close to reuniting with his brothers, only to have a horrible monster woman take the opportunity away from him. And he usually wouldn't use the word monster in that sense, but considering she'd already tried to kill him twice…

Rightfully, Luffy was upset, however there was little he could do about the new addition to his situation. Especially given the fact that the new friends he needed to help him seemed virtually powerless in the situation. Luffy's pout only deepened, he knew they probably couldn't do much, what with their princess getting involved, but still. They stood in awkward silence only for only a few moments, before Luffy spoke up again, "…What do we do now?" he tried to keep the irritation and disappointment out of his voice, which only sought to make him sound angrier. Marigold and Sandersonia, as guilty as they were, just sighed. "We should probably rest up, you'll get cleaned up in the morning…Are you still hungry?"

Despite the fact that he was, Luffy was hesitant to say so. He really didn't want to get into anything else, considering how late it was, but maybe with how his night had been going, he deserved a bit of food to ease his suffering. When he agreed, Marigold sent Sandersonia into the kitchen to find him something while they sat at one of the tables. Luffy sat riled up, on the table surface, while Marigold remained quietly watching him. Sandersonia brought in what amounted to a pretty sad late-night sandwich, but Luffy ate it anyways, still attempting to hold up the same glowering he'd been doing earlier.

Failing that, he finally sighed, allowing some of the anger to expel in the same breath, "So…" he started, "…Where would I even get cleaned up for the high and mighty princess?" Sandersonia looked at the floor for a moment, actually trying to think of somewhere he could go, before shrugging in the usual callous manner that the Naga often presented, "Probably the kitchen sink, honestly." She managed the same haughty laugh afterwards as well, "Ha, sorry. That's probably just the tip of this iceberg, huh?" Luffy shook his head, "Nah." Even though he did still consider this part of a much larger, ten-ton iceberg, where he was stuck at the very fucking tip. The water was finding so many ways to rush up around him, he hated that there was no way around this. All he could do at this point was hope that he could still find someone to throw him a lifesaver when he needed one.

That said, one of the few things Luffy could think to do is just go with the flow…again, at least for the moment.


	4. Chapter 4: That Type of Dragon

After a somewhat awkward sleep, Luffy had been awakened and moved from the dining room to what appeared to be some sort of spare room, or closet space to wash up and smell less like the "dingy" and "sticky" fur ball that high and mighty princess seemed to think that he was. Marigold and Sandersonia had brought all sorts of bathing oils and salts, and all of the smelled really nice and pretty, but Luffy cringed. The Naga sisters would be waiting guard outside the room, both to prevent an interruption to Luffy's bath, and to just prevent Luffy from wandering off. They told him to knock on the door when he was ready, and they would take him to the princess as soon as he was. So obviously, he stalled.

Luffy sat in that room, and its warm lighting, and looked at the metal tub that Sandersonia had chosen for his makeshift bathtub. The water was inviting to be sure, and it had obviously been days since he'd washed himself, and since then, he'd been covered in ale, blood, and a variety of other things. This was something he needed, but not exactly what he wanted at the moment. Regardless, the thought that his fur wouldn't clump or matte to his body anymore was incentive enough to wash up. In no time, his fur had returned to the dark brown color from his birth, and smelled like flowers, and not the cheap kind either.

Luffy dried off as much as he could, fluffing up to nearly twice his original size. Then he just sat outside of the tub, but refused to make any sort of noise to indicate that he was ready. He contemplated just sitting in here for as long as he could. Maybe he could create a hole in the walls and run away? He thought about, but remembered that he wasn't the only one with a stake in this. Sandersonia and Marigold both seem to put their lives on the line to ensure that his life _wasn't_. The princess person obviously commanded an authority that scared both of them. If he got them in trouble… well, to be honest, he was also afraid of the princess, and he knew firsthand at this point what a violent and angry princess could do. But, he also hardly knew her. What could she do to the people that she did know?

Luffy's self-preservation was strong. Sometimes, but his need to preserve the lives of others was just the slightest bit stronger, and he knocked on the door with his face. As Sandersonia pulled the door open, he fell weakly forward, groaning slightly. "You've got something about being concussed, don't you?" she questioned, being very careful to pick him up like one would a puppy. Luffy scratched his head, yawning away tiredness, "Not really, just leftover tired from all that 'almost dying' stuff. We going to see the princess now, or can I eat first?" Sandersonia nodded, "We'll be seeing the princess first, then I guess when she allows it, you can come eat with everyone."

 _It begins_ Luff internally moaned, even after he decided this was best for all parties, his stomach had to be the one guy left out on this arrangement. It was like the latest in a line of bad signs that this princess was going to be a troublesome woman. Death and then starvation, the starting signs of the apocalypse, he knew it. Carried like the long kitten he looked like, Luffy watched as the scenery of the outside of the ship melted away into the far more sinister interior. Luffy honestly expected more reds, and swinging lights, and pendulums… maybe some death eaters. But the reality kind of made the fantasy _tamer_. It was just empty, mostly because everyone was in the dining hall. It was like the eerie silence screamed at Luffy for being there. That nothing good was left in the direction they treaded.

"Do you think she'll kill me when you leave?" he found himself asking, surprised that his voice actually carried louder here. "You already asked that question," Sandersonia remarked, continuing with, "No. She most likely won't kill you. The princess has already said as much to the contrary." Luffy somehow managed to pout further, "But she kind of also _showed_ that she would kill me. So, I just want to know." He looked up as much as he could, the pathetic look on his face turning into more of a pointed one, laying out the facts. Sandersonia seemed to roll her eyes at this, "She most likely won't kill you." She repeated, to which Luffy grunted his dissatisfaction.

"Why's she so weird? The princess?" Luffy asked, realizing that the walk to his new host would be longer than he thought. In fact, he realized that the ship itself might be larger than he thought. "You think she's weird?" Marigold asked, speaking up from somewhere behind them, "Well, it's not weird to kill people you dislike." While that wasn't what he was taking about, and he disagreed, Luffy shook his head, "No. not that. She was like super weird… I don't know how to describe, is she always like that?" Sandersonia chuckled, shifting Luffy's in her hands for a moment, "Well we can't exactly tell you if she's always been weird, when we have no idea what you meant." Luffy snorted, "You know what I mean!" he squeaked, but even with his declaration, he took a second to find out how to word what he was thinking, "…I mean…Like she was all angry at one moment," he tried his best to make accompanying motions and facial expressions, "and then, the next, she was all happy and nice." Luffy shuddered, "That was creepy."

Sandersonia looked at Luffy with an incredulous look, "Creepy? How? Yokai can be fickle at times, their emotions change from time to time." Despite the fact that Luffy knew he was being chastised, he growled anyway. That wasn't what he meant either. He knew for a fact that monsters and humans didn't always have the same emotion, but that princess… She switched on the drop of a dime! She didn't just switch between them, it's like there were two different people there, and Luffy seem to be the only one graced with the _pleasure_ to witness their circus act.

He didn't want to interact with a person like that, even less wanting to be trapped in whatever said person wanted. No matter what he wanted. They were already where they needed to be. Sandersonia stopped walking, standing in front of one of the more, if not the most decorative doors on the ship. Heck, it was probably located in one of the best corridors on the ship. Of course, this was Luffy guessing on the layout of this ship, he didn't know sea vessels like that, but he was pretty spot on. Marigold moved ahead of Sandersonia and Luffy, rapping on the door calmly. At first, nothing happened, but then the door opened abruptly.

The princess had practically slung the door open, a set, hard look on her face that immediately melted away at the sight of Marigold. "Oh!" she cried happily, her angry and assertive pose being replaced with the same ditzy, bubbly, and submissive stance. "Hello Mari, Sonia! I see you've brought me something?" Luffy snorted, openly rolling his eyes at being called "something". Sure, she didn't know his name, and probably didn't know what type of monster he was, but she could've tried. The princess welcomed them into her room, seating them in one of the largest rooms Luffy had ever seen, by far. There was room for a bed, but also extra space for a separate sitting table, what looked to be a throne, and what seemed to be a very large wardrobe, along with a few other objects scattered about that insisted an aristocratic, sino-inspired feel. The sheer magnificence of it was enough to distract him from the conversation that began to ensue between Marigold, Sandersonia and the Princess.

"So, you brought me the… yokai from earlier. And I can already see that he looks leagues better than before. Wonderful." The princess spoke, looking over Sandersonia's hands to where Luffy hung helplessly in the air. "Yes, Princess! We've come to leave him with you before going to eat." The princess smiled at the both Naga, then looking around the room for something, instructed Sandersonia with a wave of her hand. "That's good. A good idea, indeed. Let me just… Ah, I've found it." She practically glided over to a certain part of the room, bending over, and bringing up with her… some sort of chain.

Luffy screeched, loud enough that he actually managed to startle Sandersonia into letting him go. He'd only caught a glimpse of it, but it was enough to scare him into a small frenzy He began to scramble off in any direction as soon as his claws made contact with a surface. Luffy made his way down the length of Sandersonia's tail, his sprint transforming into a slide halfway through. The follow through harmlessly flung him onto the floor, coming to a stop next to the legs of the princess. When Luffy looked up and saw the woman standing there, holding up a very intricate and unusually beautiful golden chain, he let out another earsplitting cry. His attempt to run off again was cut off by her sharp nails digging into the skin of his neck. Luffy was lifted up, practically yowling at the top of his lungs. In his attempt to free himself, he swung as wildly as he could with all of his limbs.

The princess dodged flailing arms and legs as best as she could, "Is something wrong?" the question sounded innocent enough, but Luffy managed to growl out, "You're gonna kill me! Let go! Let go of me!" The princess actually let out a small laugh at his struggles, and for a split moment, Luffy felt the already airtight grip on his neck become even tighter. Meanwhile, the princess hardly faltered, the force she was using on him didn't dare betray the innocent look on her face. "What? That's quite the accusation. I won't kill you." She even managed another laugh afterwards. But, Luffy would have none of it.

With the grip on his skin being concrete, he considered trying to bite the woman. Or getting either Sandersonia or Marigold's support. The problem with that solution would be that neither of them were helping, in fact, they seemed to be _endeared_ to the princess' mannerisms. Luffy couldn't hold back his disdain as they waved him goodbye, probably the last that he would see. As soon as the door closed behind them, the princess saw fit to jokingly place Luffy onto the ground, like she was going to release her grip on him. Then, just as he thought to run, she clamped the chain that she was holding around his neck. "Here we go." She spoke, voice dripping with poison. Luffy was not amused.

"How about you let me go?" he offered, pulling on the chain, and making sure to hold it up so that the princess could see it. "I'm simply making sure that my new pet doesn't hurt himself. Or get lost on the ship." Luffy grumbled his response, remembering that his tone might get him killed. "…I'm not your pet." he finally settled on, watching with pure distaste as the princess blatantly ignored his glares, offering up an intense stare of her own. "You're so… unruly." She mused on the thought, sighing it off as she began to walk to a different portion of the room. Her personal throne. Luffy found himself being pulled along like a dog, the chain rested comfortably in the princess' grip, and where it went, he was forced to follow.

Luffy considered this to be a way to kill him, but it ended as soon as she curled up onto the throne chair at one far corner of the room. He waited for her to say something else, or to make a command of him, to go and eat something, but no. She just sat there, off in her own little demented daydream. She practically turned to stone, from Luffy's observation. "Hey!" he called, tugging on the chain to get her attention. When no response came, he tried again, pulling, and jumping against the force of the chain, "Hey! What are you doing!?" Again, nothing happened. He snorted, and while he could do little in this state, he began to climb the chain, pulling himself up to the arm of the throne chair. "Hey!" he practically shouted, sitting right in front of the princess' face, he thought for sure that she'd give him answers as to what they'd be doing for the rest of the day.

"You are annoying me." Instead, she gave him this blank statement, and with that she pushed him over. Luffy's weight toppled him backwards, and he was sent sprawling on the floor, nearly injuring him on the chain on his way down. When he collided with the floor, Luffy managed to bite his cheek, he hissed at the surge of pain and looked up the side of the throne. The princess looked over with the same stony face from before, though it didn't take a mastermind to see the slight glimmer of mischief hidden behind her eyes. "That should do." She mused,

Luffy stood to his feet immediately, glaring intently at his captor. He had no doubt in his mind that he was now personally engaged in a war with this one woman. It was more obvious that no one would or could assist him in this endeavor, and that his only weapons here would be wit and stamina. However, as it was early in the morning, Luffy also took note that he was hella hungry and that he was not a very bright person. He only had so many advantages here, and most of them were given to him by Sandersonia and Marigold.

As he steamed, Luffy carried himself as far away from the princess as the chain around his neck would allow. If only to represent how far he'd like to be from the situation. He almost began to formulate another possible way out of his restraints, but his stomach had decided to officially go on strike. He'd not technically eaten since the prior night, and even that had spoiled by his new tormentor. His stomach had decided to go on full strike. At first, Luffy tried to ignore it, realizing that nothing could really be done about his predicament, but his stomach showed exactly how much less it cared. Despite his personal hatred of the woman, Luffy found himself voicing whatever questions his stomach wanted aloud, "When am I going to eat something?" The princess leaned over the arm of her throne chair as much as she could, getting a good look at Luffy.

"You want something to eat? We can do that later." She stated, returning to whatever nonchalant task occupied her thoughts beforehand. Luffy grumbled, "No we can't. I haven't even eaten breakfast." He pulled on his chain, watching as the princess was forced to maneuver herself, "I want something to eat." The princess sighed, tugging her arm closer to her chest, and pulling Luffy forward. "You can wait. I don't feel like going to the dining area right now." The tug and war laid out before had finally been kicked into motion. The natural response, Luffy felt was to not fight it, just comply. And comply he did, pulling on his chain hard this time, slipping it off of the arm of the throne, and throwing the princess off balance. "I don't care what you _feel_ like! I want something to eat!" The princess actually managed a growl as she lifted herself back to her proper posing. "Who cares if you want to eat? I'm the one in charge here!"

Luffy managed a pretty solid impersonation of a roar as the princess yanked the chain towards herself, sending the yokai onto his stomach. "You're so spoiled. I just want to eat something, why are you so difficult!" he called before biting onto the chain and rolling back, pulling the princess over her throne in the process. It looked ridiculous, she flew forward and smacked into the side of her throne. Her hair flew over her head and covered her face. Even in the midst of his hunger pains, Luffy had to muffle his own laughter, and managed to do so poorly. The princes lifted her head immediately, and that was what cut off Luffy's laughter. She had the same look in her eyes that she had when they first met, that is, when she tried to kill him yesterday. The glowing eyes were now accompanied by what seemed to be smoke curling from her mouth, just like Ace would do when he got upset.

As if that was not enough of a clue to Luffy's imminent danger, the claw that wrapped around the princess' side of the chain rang the alarm for him. Luffy immediately squeaked, now knowing to turn, and run, if not too little too late. The princess pulled the chain once, but that was enough to take Luffy off of his feet, and pull him into the side of the throne chair. Then reaching with that same claw, she snatched Luffy up by his neck, once again. The wounds that had already sort of healed yesterday were now being dug into again. He was lifted into the air, now even level with the princess' face. Luffy attempted to make himself smaller, with all the good that would have done. "I seem to have received the most unruly present from my sisters…" she spoke, and for a moment, Luffy could have he saw fangs where none were before, "I get the feeling that you're done being belligerent?"

With every word she spoke, the princess released a heavy mist from her mouth. It only added to her intimidation, whether or not she knew that to be true. Luffy wanted to nod, but he also still wanted to eat. The counter-argument there was that he still wanted to live, as well. Luffy found himself nodding, his stomach was already tightening from fear anyway. He didn't want to ensue more damage at the moment. "We will eat later. _Not_ because I care, _not_ because I want to, but simply because _I said so_. Is that clear?" Luffy nodded again, and the princess continued, "You've got a lot to learn about doing what I say, when I say so. Keep your whys and why nots to yourself. There is no reasoning here. Not with me."

Luffy continued to nod, keeping his gaze focused on anything but the monster in front of him. Even though the smoke conjured from her speaking made him cough, he just tried to cover it up as best as he could. "I'm not going to hurt you." She continued, placing Luffy squarely in her lap. "I already promised that I wouldn't. But you have to pay something for this," she leaned forward only a tad, pointing out a small bruise forming on her forward, probably from when she collided with the couch, "This… injury to my face that you've caused. We will sit here until you think of something." She sat back up correctly, and with the hand that wasn't digging into Luffy's skin, held up one finger, "When you think of an adequate punishment, you will be allowed to eat."

The only other time Luffy had been this worried over his life, he'd been in the hands of unruly human pirates who threatened to throw him overboard their ship. That seemed so safe and so far away to whatever was going on around him now. "…" The princess had fallen back into her sweet silence, leaving the choice of Luffy's punishment for injuring her up to him. He wanted to say something easy, something that wouldn't hurt him, but he wondered about that. If he didn't pick the right punishment, would she just do it herself? He really didn't want that. Luffy sighed, quickly looking around to see if he disturbed some sort of sacred peace. When he found that he didn't, Luffy continued his internal monologue. _I don't want to die_ , he thought, _and maybe she said she wouldn't kill me, but I don't know_ …

Luffy sat for a moment, hunger replaced with stress momentarily until he finally thought of the perfect punishment. "…I think I've got something." He whispered. Then feeling a sharp pull in the skin of his neck, he readied himself to be carried. The princess once again held him to her face, the same glowing eyes had lessened somewhat, and the curling smoke had dissipated in smaller wisps. "What did you decide on?" Luffy while shaking pretty fiercely, spoke up, "Well, I figure that I'm some sort of pet right now, yeah? But I'm more useful than some regular pet." Luffy started, using one of his paws to gesture over himself.

"I might not look exactly like it, but I'm a shapeshifter." Luffy continued, "I can turn into whatever shape that I need to survive, or to do daily tasks." The princess raised an eyebrow curiously, so Luffy took that as a sign that he was on the right track with bargaining for his life. "I can be a personal service monkey." He stated, bowing as much as he was able in his current position, "A little more helpful to you than some pet, right?" The princess looked perplexed, really thinking about her options at the moment, so Luffy figured he'd help make the decision a bit easier, "It'll be great, whatever you say, no matter how ridiculous or random, at the moment you say it, no hesitations, no whining, no fuss."

The princess still seemed hesitant, and for a moment, Luffy began to dip his head so he didn't have to see whatever fate he was heading towards. When his death was neither immediate or painful, Luffy forced himself to look at the princess. The woman was smiling, the kind of smile you give someone when they do exactly as you wanted, before you tell them too. "That sounds like a plan, monkey boy." She chimed, the sound of it being eerie like the intense score form some horror movie. "Was that really so _difficult_?" Luffy shook his head, ignoring the visualization of poison dripping from the mouth of this particular creature like honey. The princess, released him from her grip, even though the chain remained around his neck, Luffy almost found it easier to breathe.

"I do need to know." She started, placing Luffy onto his feet on the ground in front of her, "How do I know that you're good on your word? While I agree you're very tanuki-like, I have never seen you use any sort of power." Luffy realized this was true, and began immediately to find a solution. "… You are right about that, hmm." Luffy looked around, immediately seeing a small plant hidden in the far corner of the room. "Can I borrow that plant?" he questioned, looking to the princess with earnest. "Yes." She got up from the chair, and walked Luffy to the corner plant, Luffy tore one of the leaves from its branches, and touched it delicately to his forehead, saying, "Stand back a little bit" as he transformed in a puff of smoke. In place of his small Fūri form, Luffy now sat, calmly in the form of larger cocker spaniel, with his distinct coloring and a small leaf balanced on his forehead. He looked up to the princess for a moment, before bowing his head to avoid eye contact.

He wasn't sure, but the princess seemed impressed nonetheless. "Alright then." She nodded her approval and walked Luffy back over to the throne chair, "Can you still turn back?" When Luffy said he could, she nodded again, taking a small sigh before leading Luffy to the door of her room. "Well, feel free to turn back when you wish. We'll be getting lunch now, regardless." That was honestly the best news that Luffy had heard for a good while. And despite being led away in the form of a literal dog, Luffy felt a little safer now that he was not in the literal claws of the monster woman. He'd begun to realize that he was even _more_ safe on the end of a golden chain than actually in the woman's hands.

Walking down the halls, Luffy kept one eye on his chain. As much as he'd been given room to breathe, Luffy was still suspicious of the woman, but he had managed to give himself some leeway, and as long as she was privy to the idea, he would try not to upset her. As the two walked into the dining hall, Luffy found that most of the morning crowd had already vacated the area, save for a few stragglers. The princess seemed amused, taking a seat at the at the edge of the dining hall in a rather glamorous chair. Luffy walked with her and sat simply at the foot of the chair. Two familiar faces immediately stood before the chair, one making their presence known very loudly. "Ha~! Good morning, Princess, you've come to eat with us then?" Sandersonia spoke up, looking relatively better than she had before.

"Good morning to you as well, Sonia." The princess nodded, then shrugging in a manner almost similar to Sandersonia's signature, she continued with, "I was just making sure our newest _addition_ to the ship ate his fill this morning." Sandersonia smiled in response, taking a seat on the arm of the chair. "Wonderful! Where is Luffy, anyways?" Luffy turned his nose up, pawing the air to get Sandersonia's attention. The Naga seemed to forget all about him in the moment. The princess however, hadn't, instead speaking up as she leaned towards Luffy beside her, "He's here." Sandersonia's eyes widened in pleasant surprise.

Luffy immediately rose to his feet, or paws rather, and walked in a small circle before Sandersonia. "I see. You're more like a tanuki than before." Sandersonia's curt statement managed to gain a scowl from Luffy, who snorted, and took back to sitting on the ground. While Sandersonia snickered, the princess gathered her attention once more. "Sonia, do you think you could bring this little puppy something to eat?" The Naga nodded, coiling up and sinking lower to the floor to talk with Luffy. "Is there anything specific you want to eat?

Luffy looked forward blankly for a moment, almost in a pensive manner, before blankly stating, "Meat. Whatever you've got with meat, I guess." Sandersonia nodded, rising to full height and to be on eye level with the princess again. "Is there anything you would like, Princess?" The woman in question shook her head, choosing instead to resume her favorite pastime of looking completely passive and being eerily silent. Of course, Marigold was here as well, and as Sandersonia left, she moved quietly into the space her sister had occupied. The princess acknowledged the Naga with a slight bow, and Luffy stood up once again, hopping onto the arm of the throne chair to get a better height advantage. "Hey, Marigold!" The Naga sister waved, looking Luffy over as Sandersonia had, with confusion mixed with relief. Probably at him being alive. Luffy was relieved to know that he wasn't the only one fearing for his life. Though he did wish that the two Nagas could emote a little better with his predicament.

In as hushed a whisper as he could muster, not that it mattered much, Luffy questioned Marigold, "So, have you guys been thinking about how to help me out?" Marigold took a second, but responded with the ritual "eh" motion with her hand, "Sort of. We figure if we ' _lost'_ you when we got to the island, the princess would assume you to be dead, and you could leave." In a much quieter voice, Marigold added, "To be honest, the Princess isn't the greatest with pets, so we figured this might be the best option." While Luffy wanted to comment on the poor judgement they displayed in presenting him as a pet to the woman who "wasn't so good with pets" he held his tongue. Unfortunately, he'd displayed some poor judgement of his own recently.

"So yeah," Luffy's hushed whisper continued, "Actually, I think I made a horrible decision." Marigold looked to Luffy, one eyebrow raised, "What do you mean?" Before Luffy could answer, Sandersonia returned, easily carrying a mountain of food delicately balanced on her tail. "Here we go monkey-dog!" Luffy immediately jumped down from the chair, sizing up the food as it was laid in front of him. He looked up to where Marigold stood and bowed his head in apology. "I'll eat first." He said, immediately digging into the food without further prompting. Sandersonia looked between the two of them, puzzled, "Did something happen?" she asked, to which Marigold shrugged, "I don't entirely know. He hasn't told me yet."

Sandersonia leaned in closer to Marigold, and questioned further, "Did you tell him? About what we were talking about? We should be back home soon, the next day or so, so we need a confirmation here." Marigold shook her head again, "That's what I mean," she stated, nearly gesturing to Luffy before slapping her hand down to her side. Though it did enough to make Luffy question the conversation, so he listened in, "He was talking about some horrible decision. It was really sudden. I don't know if he's talking about going home, or getting our help…Do you think Hancock did something?" Sandersonia just shook her head, "No, if she did something, I highly doubt Luffy would still be on the ship. But I do wonder…"

"Luffy is scared of her, it's possible that she might have frightened him, but I think he wants to see his family again just a tad bit more than being frightened on this ship with strangers." Luffy winced, pausing in his eating to think. It's not that he couldn't, it was just… Through the corner of his eye, the princess was still in "stone statue" mode, still surveying the empty dining hall. But, even if everyone else was pretending not to notice, she was still the same dragon woman as before. Her eyes still burned, even if she managed to dim the light in them. Her nails were tapping into her chair, and scarring up the material every time they made contact. And smoke still wisped off of her skin like she was little burning up from the inside out.

She was literally fuming. He'd still managed to make her angry, but he'd appeased her for now. If he ruined it, he might be knocking on death's door. A life as a servant wasn't exactly preferable, but he'd learned when to leave well enough alone. He was an intruder in a kingdom he didn't really want to know about, and the exit was very carefully guarded by a ferocious dragon. Not the fun kind, like Sabo and Ace, but an entirely different one. This type of dragon…

Luffy went back to his food, still hearing tidbits of the worried strangers he'd made friends with behind him. He knew better. He'd crawled right out of the cooking pan, and landed straight into the golden flames.


	5. Chapter 5: A Battle of Sorts

The fire exploded taking out far much more of the ships than Sabo had earlier expected. His surprise showed easily on his face, a slack jaw and wide eyes meeting the ferocity that still shone apparent in Ace. The older brother simply watched as human pirates ran around their deck, trying to escape the flames around them. With the least hint of a warning, Ace flew on, forcing Sabo to tear away from the grizzly scene after him. "Ace" he called, practically flitting past his hot-headed brother, "Ace, wait!" The Ka-Riu slowed somewhat still trudging along the sky. As Sabo appeared at his side, he turned slowly, "What the hell was that?"

"He wasn't there." Ace retorted, a set glower on his face as he looked over the world below them, "You didn't know!" Sabo argued, "You didn't even let me check!" Ace had been like this for the past few hours. Testy, quick-tempered. He would take one look at a pirate ship and fly off, or burn it to the ground, all on the assumption that Luffy wasn't even there. "He wasn't there" Ace repeated, avoiding the mixture of emotions evident on Sabo's face. The golden brother almost repeated himself when he realized they'd be talking in circles. "We can't do that!" He practically pleaded for reason at this point.

"Do _what_?" Ace flared himself up, casting a wild glance around the area, "Luffy wasn't on that ship! And we sure as hell don't have to pretend to be nice with pirates! Human pirates, by the way!" Sabo glared his brother over, still trying to find the part of him that wasn't tired, or feeling hopeless, "We _can't_ just go around without knowing. You could miss something, and we could very well have to fish our brother from _the depths of the ocean_!" It took every ounce of his being not to raise his voice any more than he had. Ace snorted, sending ash in all directions "So, you think that since I can't see like you, I can't make a judgement call?"

"That's not what I said." Sabo countered, still keeping eye contact. "I said that we need to be smart about this." Immediately recognizing his choice of words, Sabo tried to backpedal, "Not that you aren't being smart about this, but-" Ace had tuned his brother out, turning back around, and taking off in his earlier set path. Sabo easily matched his pace. Ace was testy, he was tired. He just kept telling himself that they were tired. He himself had not slept in days. Had anyone looked close enough, red streaks had begun to pattern his eyes.

He flew in front of Ace, "We need to rest. Take a break, get some food and sleep in us," he started, turning to face Ace with as much care as he could muster, "Come on, I think I saw an island a few leagues in that direction." As he reached out to grab his brother, Ace rushed into him, biting deep into Sabo's neck. Sabo could only manage a roar, one that tore through the skies.

~Monkey Boy~

Luffy was beginning to wonder exactly why it was that the princess was even on this pirate ship. She had several different places all around the ship where she could sit and "rest". And she made sure to do it quite often. She never really talked to anyone that wasn't Sandersonia or Marigold, and certainly wasn't striking up conversation with the "dog". Moreover, it was boring. He could always talk about random things with Sandersonia, even start up small talk with Marigold, but the Princess was the equivalent of watching paint dry levels of boring. In fact, the only time she'd been remotely interesting was when she actively attempted to kill him or threaten bodily harm. Luffy wasn't willing to risk that anyways, he already had two strikes. One more, and he was out.

It might even be two and a half strikes, actually, the way Sandersonia and Marigold acted when he'd told them of his little life-saving deal:

"You what?!" Sandersonia nearly screamed in surprise, which was immediately covered up by her own tail. In a more hushed whisper, she spoke for the shock on both her and Marigold's faces. "What do you mean you made a deal with her?" Luffy had been trying to hide his shame, now lying low to the ground and whimpering. "I said that I'd become her servant, so that she wouldn't kill me." Sandersonia rolled her eyes, staring up at the ceiling of the dining hall. "Really?" she moaned. This was the point where Marigold took up talking, "Luffy, that was-"

"Stupid? I get that." Luffy started, "but consider the fact that she was going to murder me!" his voice rose at the end, immediately quieting as the princess moved slightly to their left. She was oblivious of their conversation it seemed, or she found their pain refreshingly comedic. In a quieter voice, he continued, "She might still murder me." Sandersonia leaned in, jerking the chain around Luffy's neck fast enough that he felt slight whiplash. " _Which_ wouldn't have happened if you got to hear our plan!" Turning to her sister, Sandersonia harshly questioned, "Did you even tell him the plan?" To which Marigold nodded, disheartened.

"Can't we still pretend that I got lost on the island? That's still an option, right?" Luffy offered, now feeling as low to the ground as he laid. "No." Sandersonia stated, seeming to collect herself, though when she spoke, her s-words were accompanied by a high-whistling hiss. "Now, we've got to make sure that you stay near the princess. Now, you're as much her property as anything else in the castle." Again, she went for the chain, but this time, she grabbed the line that connected Luffy to the princess, "She's literally got a chain on you, Luffy!"

"You saw her put on the chain!" Luffy protested, but Marigold spoke up, "She would have most certainly let you go on the island. She doesn't like pets, and would probably have rather it that were killed by some of the larger animals on the island." Luffy's heart sank, he didn't want to be stuck on the island when he arrived, with no way off…

Luffy sighed. Sandersonia had been walked away by Marigold after that discussion, so she could cool down. And he'd followed the Princess. Wherever she went, and he'd been bored and disappointed ever since. He felt his neck being pulled by the chain, and hopped up, trotting up to the princess.

"Where are we going now?" he asked. The princess looked him over and knelt down in front of him. Titling her head to the side innocently, she answered his question, with a question, "You seem upset? Is something bothering you?" It was pretty blatantly clear that she didn't care, but Luffy was not hardly bored enough to test the princess' reaction to _You bother me_. So, he didn't say it. "I'm not bored. I'm hungry." He murmured. The princess rolled her eyes, "Well then you've been 'hungry' all day. And you just ate lunch." This was true, but Luffy found himself both amazed and annoyed that she remembered that much from her constant "resting". "It's fine." He assured her, looking around to avoid her staring. "Are we going anywhere else today?"

"No, I'm going to retire for the evening. We can have the food brought up for you." The princess patted Luffy roughly on the head, standing to full imposing height. As they made their way towards her room, she did pull on the chain to get his attention, "What do you want?" Luffy mumbled, still trying to shield his attitude, "I want to see you transform again." Luffy thought the request over for a second, mostly because he'd heard her incorrectly the first time, then spoke up, "Why? I transform, it's not that special."

"I think it's interesting. I've never seen a shapeshifter before. And certainly not seen one in my service. You must understand, it's something of a rarity for me." The princess ended her reasoning with the dangerous smile, and Luffy felt himself nodding out of impulse at this point. Like he'd been trained to submit to that specific smile whenever he saw it. Luffy shuddered at the thought. Then, with the same blank expression and voice, "Yeah, sure. Rare." He began to wonder if he could just take advantage of the opportunity to transform into something large enough (or with a very high endurance) and escape from the ship. He could turn into a bear, or a dragon, or-

Around that same time, Luffy remembered with a heavy heart that he would still be stuck on a ship, and that he could not fly or swim in practically any shape he took (especially his original form) That idea sunk, Luffy sighed, trudging forward alongside the princess.

"Can you turn into other yokai?" The princess asked, sitting in the throne chair in her room. She had attached Luffy's chain to the leg of a nearby drawer, and placed the potted plant he'd used before nearby. Luffy nodded, "Yeah, there's not really a limit." The princess' focus seemed to be on what he could or couldn't do with his abilities. "What about other people? Could you turn into Sandersonia?" Luffy nodded again, this time adding, "Well, sure. But I still have a tell." Or rather, a _tail_. Luffy's tail stayed with him the entire time, no matter what he became. His tail wagged for effect. "This is still my tail, it kind of follows."

The princess seemed to take note of this, worrying Luffy as to why she cared so much. He didn't really get to ask. They went back and forth for a while on his abilities, and then she immediately ordered him to transform into something. He had to appreciate how patient she'd been before ordering him though. Tearing through the balanced leaf, Luffy reverted to his small Fūri form. He then immediately tore a new leaf from the plant and placed it onto his forehead. The smoke cloud appeared and Luffy was transformed, only the form of tanuki was left. From what he could assume, the princess was impressed. At least, she looked like she was impressed, she clapped a bit, but other than that, she just sat in her throne, leaning on the arm of the chair. He did this a few more times, turning into a few different beasts and animals, like a monkey, a small kotengu, and a satyr. Each of these gaining the slight applause from the princess.

All things considered, Luffy considered this more of a new activity. First, he would just turn into whatever he felt like, then he took suggestions from the princess. It became similar to listening to a child, where Luffy would take commands from the princess to turn into whatever she said. She even got so bold as to see how fast he could turn, rapid-fire calling out beasts and monsters for him to turn into, and Luffy almost getting vertigo trying to keep up with his body transforming that much. As he sat, trying to catch his breath, and straighten his vision, the princess loomed over him. "How are you feeling?" she seemed really concerned, until Luffy looked up and saw that she was smiling. His face fell, but he hid his disappointment by quickly looking to the ground. "…fine." He wheezed out, before breaking form his latest new form back into the original. _Despite_ the fact that he was not in fact, fine, the princess took control of the chain and led him to the far corner of the room.

There, much to Luffy's surprise was a small, overly frilly, blindingly bright, heavily perfumed pink bed. And it shined like there was glitter on it. "Somehow word got around that I had a pet with me." The princess spoke calmly, laughter stifled with every word. "And, they made you a bed. For the most part, I usually reject gifts like this. This piece of junk is…it's just plain _ugly_ , and the colors couldn't be more wrong." While it was worded rudely, Luffy agreed on the assessment of what he could only assume would be his. "Is… is this _my_ bed?"

"You are the 'pet' they would be referring to." The princess responded, nonchalantly, "I'd figure I show this to you, so that you can tell everyone how much you _love_ it when they come to bring you dinner." Luffy grumbled as he rose to his feet. This woman always managed to turn the joy of food into some sort of sick joke. He could say he didn't want the bed, and he really wanted to… "I don't…" he started, which was met with a fierce glare from the princess. It was split-second, but Luffy swallowed his words, "How…do I thank them? For the bed, anyway?" The princess shrugged, looking towards the door, "I've no idea. We should go though. You're probably starving."

 _I was five minutes ago…_ Luffy thought, practically dragging behind the princess as they walked.

 _~Double Dragon~_

The situation escalated quickly, after Ace bit into Sabo's neck. The golden dragon's only response was to flail, and when his brother refused to let go, he thrashed. Not only did Ace have a powerful bite, the older dragon's body was hotter than hell. Sabo might be protected against higher temperatures, but it was pretty evident in this situation that this was more than even he could handle. The two dragons, now tangled together in Sabo's attempt to escape, began free-falling, before crashing into the ocean. Ace was shocked by the cold, his fires doused, this was the moment that Sabo took advantage of, returning serve, so to speak. Sabo tore into Ace, his closest claw able to rake free some of his older brother's scales.

The smaller dragon screamed, finally letting go of Sabo's neck and get pushed back by the waves the motioned caused. For a moment, both Ace and Sabo simply looked at each other, ready and raring to continue their fight. Stress, Sleep-deprivation, and the sense of hopelessness found their way out of both dragons in the form of a primal roar, loud enough to create small waves. Sabo, with an advantage in water, practically soared towards Ace like he was still in the air, crashing into his brother. Ace retaliated with his powerful bite, clipping scales under his teeth in the process. Sabo used his body, being nearly seven or eight times as long as Ace's, to wrap around and completely surround Ace, and began to swim against the red dragon. With the threat of being dragged down into the ocean, Ace loosened his grip on Sabo, abandoning the goal of trying to hurt him in favor of dry land. Sabo wasn't having it, roaring even as air bubbles escaped his mouth.

Ace, with his options limited, had no choice but to go in the direction his brother pulled, the water pounding around him, and stinging the open wounds…It finally caught up with him. The red dragon passed out, beginning to float to the top. Sabo felt the pressure on his skin lessen, and took it as a sign of victory. He swam back towards the top, unwinding as he did so. Catching Ace with his claws, he burst through the surface of the ocean. Luckily, there didn't seem to be any pirate ships around. No doubt word got around of two dragons going around and sinking their ships. Sabo couldn't expect any allies as he moved through the water, trying to find land as best he could. After what seemed to be forever fighting tides, Sabo finally felt land under his stomach, he let go of Ace and just laid there. Bleeding and tired, Sabo let out a large sigh, bleary eyes finally closing for the first time in a while.

~Monkey Boy~

Oddly enough, Luffy nearly missed the news that they were going to be docking in Amazon Lily. Nearly three hours before they did so, and he'd been full invested in a rather large bowl of seafood pasta. The only reason that he did know, was the fact that Sandersonia stole his food from him so he'd hear her. "…Wait, _what_ were you talking about?" he stated, sitting up to send her a look. Sandersonia rolled her eyes, lifting the boy off the table where he was sitting. "I said we'll be docking in Amazon Lily in literal hours." It had to have been days at least, by Luffy's assumption. He wouldn't know for sure, he wasn't exactly able to keep track. Luffy had been pretty well off, for a servant. He ate well, he slept… well enough in that _horrible_ bed. He even had a sort of routine.

After the first few days, while he was still technically imprisoned the chain had been put away, he walked with the princess when she was nearby, and if she didn't need him, he was left to his own devices. And the only time she needed him really was when she wanted him to transform, it was a sort of entertainment for her, he guessed. They didn't really talk if it wasn't about what he should transform into, and that was fine by him. Luffy's impression of the princess hardly changed, he saw her as cruel as ever, though he did realize that he was the only one who held that opinion. No one else on the ship felt even the slightest resentment, or even noticed the smallest flaw in the demon woman. It was kind of annoying, but nothing he couldn't deal with.

Furthermore, Luffy, Sandersonia, and Marigold had been attempting to rectify his earlier mistake so that he could leave and go back to his brothers. They'd not been able to come up with much, but the smallest signs of a plan were nearly being put together. Today was another day where Luffy was free from the princess and they could meet and talk shop. But it was early in the morning, so his attention was devoted only to the food in front of his face. Now that the little joy in his life was being held hostage, Luffy tilted his head irritably. "So… what are going to do, then?" Sandersonia almost shrugged, canceling the motion halfway through, "…Well, you could get lost in the castle." Luffy nodded, prompting her to go on. Hesitantly, Sandersonia began to weave a plausible idea together. "Well, if you manage to get by yourself in the castle, we should be able to find you. Mari and myself, I mean. We could lead you out of the city and off of the island."

"That's starting to sound like a plan!" Luffy smiled, the first real one in days, "So how am I getting off the island?" Marigold, the ever-silent one spoke up, "We could probably get a small ship ready for you, Luffy." Luffy nodded his thanks, then looked back to Sandersonia, "Well, we've got that planned out now. Can I get my food back?" Sandersonia groaned, placing Luffy's food in front of him again, "Here you go. Are you happy now?" Luffy nodded, beginning to gorge himself again. Until, that is, he heard the most familiar voice on the ship somewhere behind him, "Turn into a chicken." The leaf he needed to do so dropped in front of him, and he caught it before it fell into his food, and turned into a chicken.

With the most annoyed face, he turned to face the princess, with her cocky grin. "How are you?" he asked, hoping there was more venom in his voice than could be portrayed in the body of a chicken. The princess just smiled, walking over, and plucking a feather from Luffy's head, "Well enough. How are you three doing?" Both Sandersonia and Marigold managed a quick nod of acknowledgement, while Luffy just rubbed the new sore spot on his head. "We're doing fine princess, we'll be docking soon. Are you happy to be home?" The princess shrugged, sitting comfortably on part of Sandersonia's tail, "Somewhat, if I should be honest with you. I like the ocean."

 _Probably because your victims can't be heard screaming there_ , Luffy grumbled, tearing the leaf from his head and pecking it to pieces, hoping to continue his meal uninterrupted. "I just don't know what to do with the Monkey boy here." The princess pouted, rolling her head back to look at the ceiling, "What do you mean?" Marigold spoke up this time, "Isn't he kind of your servant until further notice?" Immediately the princess sprung up, "This is true, yes. But," she continued, snatching Luffy up from his food by the nape of his neck, and nearly choking him in the grip of her arm, "there are forces that may see my handling of this situation as… unwise." On the word "unwise" Luffy could see smoke floating down in front of his eyes. The tale tell sign that she was unhappy, and that he would most likely suffer for it.

"It will be fine, Princess." Sandersonia assured, "If you would like, we can think of a way to hide Luffy-" The princess held on hand up, "That will not be necessary." She made her way to her chair, holding Luffy over the side like a stuffed animal, "Actually, to be honest, as much as I would rather avoid the proper nagging, I think there's a bright side." Cocking her head to the side, and with an eerily calm voice, the princess supposed, "Well, if she dies of shock at the sight of him, I'd call that a win." Sandersonia hit her matriarch's arm, playfully of course, "That's just terrible, Princess." Bowing her head "apologetically", the princess sighed, "I know. But I don't like that woman." Finally, she released Luffy, and he crumpled to the floor. The princess was very expressive in her body language, and tossing him around like a salad was asking for vertigo.

"I… just wanted to eat something…" Luffy managed, falling on his stomach, and looking up to the table where his breakfast was. He wasn't even going to pretend like he could make it back up there. Luckily Marigold picked up and placed him back without question or thought. Luffy waved his thanks and moved to his food, to have it taken up from him. "Noooo~…" he moaned, continuing to do so even after the princess picked him up as well. "I'll be back, and we'll get all your belongings packed then." He weakly nodded, and was placed back onto the table, however the same was not extended to his food, which she took with her.

Luffy sighed, turning to where Sandersonia had been consumed with laughter, "It's funny to you." He frowned, to which Sandersonia nodded, "It'll be okay, Luffy. You can always eat later." Luffy groaned, turning to fully face her, "I don't like that woman. At all." Marigold sighed, "This again? We know, Luffy. You don't like her. You should be able to go home soon." Luffy had kind of wanted an argument at the moment, to make himself feel better, but with Marigold these things were always so difficult. She was always so nice and passive aggressive… and passive-aggressively nice. With one final groan, Luffy sat up, "True. But that doesn't change anything." Marigold just nodded along, turning the earlier groan into a sigh of defeat. With a set pout, Luffy hopped off of the table, "You're impossible."

"I'm sorry?" Marigold responded, whereas Luffy just waved it off, "It's good. You guys have to go and get ready to dock?" Sandersonia interjected this time, "Not really. Why? Did you want to hang out or something?" Luffy shook his head, looking towards the door where the princess had walked out. He didn't have anything else to do, or anywhere else to be. He considered simple staying nearby the princess, but, he didn't like her at the moment. And while it seemed like a much better idea to hang around his Naga friends, he knew that would end up being boring after a while, considering they had nothing to do. His options were poor, but he decided that there was more promise in following the princess," Nah. I'll see you both in a bit." Luffy walked from the room, immediately heading in the direction he knew the princess would be.

Luckily, the woman was in her room, like he suspected. She was sprawled out over her throne chair, looking very much unhappy. "What are you doing?" He questioned, stalking up, cautious of being snatched up into the air again. "…What does it look like?" she muttered, looking over to Luffy, dejectedly. "…Where's my food?" This was both an attempt to make conversation, and to gauge her emotional state. Though secretly he did hope that she'd simply put it away in the room somewhere. "What? Your food? I threw it away." She sat up, looking down at Luffy with a puzzled look, before her face shifted to become calmer. "Figured…" the monkey grumbled, "Are you upset or something?" The princess shook her head, "No. Not in the slightest. Just tired."

"Tired of what?" Luffy prompted, taking a seat right there on the floor in front of the princess. "The reason isn't exactly any of your business, Monkey boy." Luffy rolled his eyes, "You know that's not my name-" The princess had already switched gears, standing up and ignoring Luffy in favor of some distant notion. "We should begin packing your belongings for when we arrive on the island." She strode across the room, arriving at the door. One of the other women on this ship just happened to be there, prepared to update the princess on their status. "I suppose we're docking soon?" she cut off the pirate before she could form the words, and when the response confirmed her speculation, the princess turned, slamming the door. "Well, that's that then. We best get you ready."

Luffy felt the oddest sensation that the princess was once again plotting something for him, and yet it still came as a surprise when he was given a large pack of belongings the princess claimed was his. Despite the fact that Luffy had hardly seen anything other than his horrid pink bedding. He asked if he could turn into something bigger, something more able to carry all that he was being given, and the princess refused. "No." she stated, then followed up coldly with, "You've got this small number of belongings and you whine about carrying it? If you should fall to the ground, you still have those wings, maybe they can carry you." Luffy snorted, both a symbol of his anger and a short breath.

Both he and the princess stood on the deck of the ship as they finally docked on the island Luffy knew to be Amazon Lily. Everyone exited the ship, Sandersonia and Marigold forming a sort of barrier on either side of the princess, and Luffy walking a short distance in front of them all. The rest of the crew followed behind them. He could hear Sandersonia snicker every time she looked down as him. He would snarl and growl in return, secretly envying the woman's ability to glide across the ground with her tail. For a moment, it was hard to discern where he was, especially with his stuff weighing him down, but he soon heard and smelled things that gave him an inclination.

It smelled like a market, a large one, and while they were distant, he still managed to hear voices, busy ones. Luffy could almost make out dozens of different food smells, and wanted desperately to go to the source. He almost walked to the source of it all, when Sandersonia pulled on his pack. Apparently. They were taking a different route. He really didn't mind all that much, as long as they got to eat something. But that persistent feeling that settled in Luffy's stomach began to deepen. Maybe it was telling him that he wasn't going to be able to eat yet. Because that's what happened. Luffy grumbled, his feet aching as they walked on, and then it seemed like they were walking uphill for a moment. Then, like they were hiking a mountain trail. When they finally settled, Luffy's body screamed in protest of movement. He just wanted to lie down, maybe for a good long time. But no, instead, Luffy heard a sound at least fifty times less pleasant than what he'd expected.

"Princess Hancock!" It was something of a whiny voice, it reminded him of Dadan, actually. And, more importantly, it surprised him, causing him to stumble and misstep. In mere seconds, Luffy was a mess among all the other random and unnecessary items that were on his person. In the midst of the chaos, he heard the princess laughing. Luffy sighed angrily, stuck under the pressure of some random bags. The voice that scared him now seemed startled, and the princess' laughter went on unnoticed or interrupted. The startled voice, Luffy now saw, belonged to what seemed to be a very old, very large mountain cat. It stood on its hind legs, a very light ashen grey, and a small pink flower. With dark eyes that currently sharpened at the site of Luffy. An ethereal beast like he'd never seen before, a Nekomata.

"What is that?" it rasped, confusion swirling up its essence in the same way smoke drifted around the princess when she was angry. "Nothing. That's what it is." The princess' response was curt and quick, debunking the jovial laughter she'd let loose earlier. Sandersonia and Marigold took this to mean to help Luffy gather up his things, as well as practically lifting him off of the ground. "The Nekomata didn't simply accept the princess' words, instead stepping tentatively closer and trying to get a look at Luffy. She managed to catch sight of the disheveled figure that was Luffy. The monster screeched, practically vaulting in the air.

"What in the hell is that?!" The concern in the newcomer's voice was evident. Sandersonia was going to take up the duty of speaking for Luffy, but she was cut off, by the princess. Walking past them to stand imposingly before the Nekomata, and with one hand, she lifted the demon cat into the air, and threw her. Luffy's eyes widened as the cat was expertly hurled through a window not too far from where their little group was gathered. The princess' only closing statement after this: "She was going to be annoying."


	6. Chapter 6: Top of the Mountain

Luffy was dumbfounded, his eyes fixated on the point where the Princess just vaulted a rather sizeable yokai out of a very well-placed window. Sandersonia and Marigold, on the other hand? Neither of them batted an eye, Sandersonia chastised the princess' choice, saying, "Princess. That was not necessary." The princess grumbled, continuing her stride as if she hadn't done anything wrong, "She was bothering me, Sonia." Then the matriarch continued her reasoning with, "It stopped her from asking questions, didn't it?" Luffy just watched on, puzzled, the validity of the action wasn't in question. The poor Nekomata might have come onto the scene as an annoying presence, but there wasn't really any one person Luffy wished was thrown out of a window. Marigold helped him collect his things, and their small group made their way to the latest in grand throne "rooms" that Luffy had seen in the presence of the female yokai.

Of course, this one was actually a throne room, so there was one difference. Luffy stood alongside Marigold with most of his things, while the princess and Sandersonia walked over to what was easily the most impressive throne. While he didn't say much, Luffy was interested in if anyone else was going to do something about the yokai that was thrown out of the window. He even heard Sandersonia muttering to the princess about it, "Do you think that she needed something form you?" The princess, disinterested, responding with, "Nothing important, I'm sure."

"You wouldn't know!" The sudden outburst and appearance of the Nekomata on top of the throne chair made Luffy jump, yet this time, she was uncaring about his presence, "You just throw me out the window!" The princess took up a fake, pitiful look, mocking a cry in response, "I swear I didn't mean to! I just slipped!" For a moment, the Nekomata seemed taken off guard, stepping back and looking around as if considering the princess's objection, "I guess that's a good- Wait a _minute_! You literally picked me up and threw me!" The princess sighed, snapping her fingers at the fact that her clever ruse had failed. "Well, consider the fact I don't care about what you have to say. Who keeps letting you in here?"

"Unimportant, I was talking." The Nekomata scowled, sitting down on all four legs for a moment. "I have the caring instinct to worry about you while you're away for long periods of time. And you… You just throw me out a window."

"We've established what I did. I don't care." The princess grumbled, eye visibly twitching. "You never answered my question." The cat yokai seemed equally agitated, tail twitching in response to the princess' questioning. " _You_ never answered my questions either." The princess sneered, slumping into her throne. The Nekomata's eyes turned to Luffy, sending a chill up his spine. Luffy looked around, trying to find something to hide behind. "Hey." He stammered out, arms tiring from the weight in his hands. In his nervousness, he placed his stuff onto the floor, and did his best to partially hide behind it. The cat yokai slinked towards him, easily towering over him as she approached.

Like most of the women in this room, the Nekomata snatched Luffy up by his tail. "What in the hell is this?" Sandersonia spoke up, nervously holding back from nearly running over and snatching Luffy from the smaller yokai's claws. "That is… Luffy." The Nekomata, one eye raised, turned her body, addressing Sandersonia, "Luffy? What kind of name-" The Nekomata cut herself off, looking over the smaller yokai, "What is 'Luffy' doing here?" Sandersonia looked to the princess beside her, when the latter shrugged, she said, "Well, Luffy was acquired from one of our raids. Marigold and I thought we'd gift him to the princess." The Nekomata gave a puzzling look, "Him? Sandersonia, men aren't welcome here."

"He's more of a pet." Marigold interjected, "and he belongs to the Princess." Luffy rolled his eyes, even upside down, with blood rushing in his ears, he took offense. The Nekomata cast a quick glance between where the princess sat and Luffy dangling in the air. Obviously, she was looking for some sort of cooperating statement or explanation from the princess. But, the woman looked generally disinterested and annoyed. "He belongs to me, yes." She spoke up, still side-eyeing the Nekomata, "And you're going to kill him like that. Put him down." While Luffy was put down, the princess and Nekomata were once again locking horns. "Hancock! This is ridiculous, you can't keep him! This is a _man_. A yokai man, rather diminutive in size, but nonetheless a man. Men aren't allowed here."

"I know." The princess groaned, sitting up, "I know men aren't allowed here. But consider that he's more of a pet than a man. More of a servant or slave. And we do have quite a few of those!" She did cause the yokai near Luffy to flinch, but the woman didn't seem to want to back down yet. "No matter what you say, this is still a breach of the laws of this island-"

"You want to talk to me about break laws. That's rich." The princess scowled, gaining an immediate silence from the older yokai. "I know and respect those laws as I live and breathe, Nyon. I wouldn't do something that could even begin to break them." The princess ended her conversation with the Nekomata, Nyon, and turned to Sandersonia. She began to whisper something into the Naga's ear that Luffy couldn't make out. But it ended with her getting Marigold, and the both of them gathering Luffy, and his stuff, and walking them out of the throne room.

"That was a little tense." Luffy murmured, smoothing out his tail as he walked. He'd been freed from the burden of carrying his belongings by both Sandersonia and Marigold. Marigold nodded, "That was a little less hectic than other times, though." Luffy felt like asking, but didn't really want to worry about it, instead he had a few other things he wanted to talk about. "Where are we going?" Sandersonia spoke up, "We're just getting you to a room that you'll be able to call yours for as long as you're here." Luffy nodded, looking around, "So, is that… uh, Nyon, is she the royal advisor or something?" Sandersonia shook her head, still leading the charge through long, winding hallways, "Nyon- Oh, her name is Gloriosa. And she's not really an advisor, just…Well, I don't know actually."

"You don't? Why's she in there then?" Luffy countered, his puzzled look continuing. Instead of answering him, Sandersonia shrugged it off, continuing to lead him through hallways and doors. The trio walked for long enough that Luffy began to see a different air. It wasn't as rich, where they were heading, a little less pompous, extremely less lavish. Until they stopped in front of a small door, at the end of a very long hallway, descending from stairs. It looked somewhat ragged, a hard wood door, with some cracks and splinters sticking out. "Is this it?" Luffy tried to keep the disappointment from his voice. "Yes. This will be your room, that is, until we can get you out of here." While he nodded, Marigold opened the door and settled his stuff onto the floor. Sandersonia walked Luffy into the room, her part of his belongings onto the floor, and gestured around the room. "Here we are." In all the room had maybe three things: one small port-sized window high upon the farthest wall, a small little chest to put belongings, and a twin-sized bed far larger than his own.

Luffy, Sandersonia, and Marigold settled his stuff into the room as much as they could, leaving Luffy's dog bed on the floor beside the larger one. The two sisters were going to take their leave, Luffy managed to catch their attention one more time, "Hey! Do you guys think I'll be good on my own?" The sisters reassured him as much as they could before take leave of his small room. They said things like, "You won't be here long, don't worry." And "It's not as bad as you'd think." And after each reassuring sentence, a reminder that they'd be enacting their plan soon, and he would back out on the ocean, free to locate his brothers.

As great as that was, Luffy could already feel tenseness settling in his legs. Standing around until someone came to get him, for whatever reason, would take forever. Luffy sat on the bed for as long as he could manage after his friends had left him, before finally deciding that he would just stroll up and down the long hallway. No turns, no corresponding corridors, nothing that would get him lost, just walking up and down the hallway. Maybe peeking into some doors and saying hello. His mind set, Luffy strolled out of his room, making a mental note of it as he went, and began to traverse the hallways, on the lookout for something of interest.

~The Empress~

Talking Nyon down took longer than she'd originally thought it would. And required a vast amount of energy. The old woman was set to be difficult, and determined to destroy her patience. After so long listening to her, the snake princess literally resorted to covering her hands with her ears. It eased the headache that was starting. "Really? You're just going to ignore me and my sage advice? _This_ is how you're going to treat your elders?" She nodded, giving a dead glare as her response to the "sage advice". When for a moment, it seemed that the ranting would end, Nyon continued, leading the princess to just get up from the chair and begin walking away.

"Hancock! Where are you going?" her advisor's voice sounded behind her, "Somewhere else." She mumbled, rubbing her temples, she needed to cool down for a moment. She made sure to walk for some distance, and after making sure that Nyon hadn't marched after her, she relaxed more.

She knew that Nyon wasn't entirely unreasonable. Worried, just as she had been, about the appearance of the random male onto their island. Amazon Lily was known as the all-female Shangri-La, a paradise protected by powerful monsters. Men tended to ruin paradise. Hancock rolled her eyes, feeling slight strains at the effort. She began to have an internal back and forth, mentally playing out how the conversation should have gone, or might have if she hadn't stormed off.

Nyon had said, "He could still be dangerous! His words mean nothing!" Yeah, they would mean nothing if she hadn't already gaged his powerful level. She could literally have killed him at any moment, and he couldn't feint to stop her. And if he were so dangerous, she would probably have died in her sleep by now. Another concern was that he'd break free and run into the city. Hancock didn't have a rapid-fire comeback for that, but after some thought, she also remembered that he could have already tried that as well. Most of Nyon's worries were placed in the fact that she felt the man would run off on his own and destroy everything, but even off of a chain, he stayed in clear line-of-sight of either Hancock, Sandersonia, or Marigold. Hancock looked down to the ground, taking note of the steam rising off her arms.

She was worked up over nothing. Hancock huffed, rolling her eyes again as she took herself down the hallway. "I almost want something to drink." Almost, as in, maybe later. At the moment, she just wanted to be alone. A difficult task if you were the princess, but not if you had sanctioned off your own little breathing space.

The princess found herself in her room, attendants waiting at the door for her. She thought about consulting with them, seeing if they wanted anything, and decided on walking right past them without acknowledgement. Even as they greeted her and asked how she was, she opened and closed the door in the faces, letting the loud slam that resulted stand for her answers. She thought about calling out, seeing if they were still there…then ignored it. She did want to be alone, she didn't exactly have to talk with them, at all. Add the unnecessary guilt she felt to the list of things she was now going to try and rid herself of with a hot bath. She'd planned on doing that earlier, after seeing to it that Luffy got his room and all. However, that plan also counted on not running into Nyon, or at least on her not recovering from that fall so quickly.

Since her plans had all went sideways, Hancock was upset, and the headache settling in could be felt in the tips of her fingers. The bath was the ultimate relief. She scoured her closet, finding the first clothes in front of her and tearing them free. When she made to leave her room, she opened the door only a crack, looking out to see if she still had visitors. The hallways seemed clear, so she made her way through. Honestly, she didn't really have the energy to keep being rude. Nyon always made her so tired… She felt like a mess.

It always took such a long time to remember the layout of the castle when she got back from voyages. And vice versa, most likely because both places were large, difficult to navigate, and she'd never gotten the chance to explore either. She did always get close, on the castle side, trying to find the bathhouse always led her down paths she'd never expected. Sometimes it was nice, and sometimes it led to a dead end, forcing her to backtrack for long periods of time. Today was the latter. By the time she actually found the bathhouse, Hancock leaned on the wall, the pounding in her head actually got worse. That and the steam, she was so annoyed, and the heat from her own body wasn't helping. She growled, lucky at least, the hallways around her objective remained empty.

Actually, getting into the bath seemed to be a bit blurrier, she remembered walking in, seeing no one was around, she went ahead and undressed, and stepped into the water. It's healing effects seemed to work almost immediately. The pounding lessened, the shaking stopped, the steaming too. She almost would have fallen asleep. She would've, if the roof hadn't caved in.

~Monkey Boy~

He wasn't entirely sure how he ended up on the roof, to be honest. And on a completely different building too, for that matter. Luffy had left his room, he wandered halls endlessly. As many doors as there were in this castle, there weren't that many people to fill them. To top that off, when Luffy had finally decided to call off his little adventure, he found that he didn't remember the way. He took a moment to look around himself. He opened doors often, attempting to find that horrible pink dog bed on the floor. That was the only way he knew that he'd be back where he needed to be.

Luffy considered staying where he was, he new it was a surefire way to be found… but, he wasn't entirely sure that anybody was looking for him right now. Well, Marigold and Sandersonia would. Oh, Luffy winced, his pace picking up again slightly, Sandersonia and Marigold didn't even know where he was right now. They might actually be fed up with him after this. This had to be at least the third try to help him escape, and here he was, delaying it. They probably thought he didn't want to go home, but that would be wrong.

He wanted to go home, he just also wanted to know what was happening around him, wherever he was. Apparently, you could only have one or the other at one time. Luffy frowned at the thought, continuing his trek. No point cowering out now. If he was going to be ignorant to his situation, he was going full in. Luffy thought he'd found the way back to his room, the door looked slightly similar, and he'd gone down some stairs to get to it. Opening the door, he felt a rush of wind around him. Even though it had seemed off at the time, he still walked out, and he found himself outside. And on the side of a mountain.

It had to be a mountain, anyway, it looked like one. Like he'd stepped out onto a terrace, built-in to the side of a rock wall. And down below him, only a little farther off, there seemed to be a surplus of developed area, with smoke rising from it, and voices carrying all the way to his sensitive ears. He must have walked past this place when they arrived on the island, at least it felt familiar…

It felt really familiar, honestly. Like he'd been here before. For a small second, Luffy considered, going back into the castle, trying to navigate his way back to his room. But, looking around, it seemed easier to get around out here…Despite what felt like better judgement, Luffy followed the more familiar path. He wanted a closer look at what was down there. Maybe if he could get higher up, maybe he'd figure out why it was so familiar. He found the end of the terrace he was standing on, it kind of just ended there, but there were some rocks jutting out of the rock wall nearby that he could make use of. He was relatively small, and he could use his wings for more leverage.

One particularly large "step" came into sight, so he hopped onto the railing around the terrace readying himself for a jump. Luffy sailed through the air like a sugar-glider, still having to scramble onto the ledge of the rock as he settled to a stop. Huffing, and trying to get his breath from his small flight. "…I need to work on that a bit more." He mused, looking around his current spot for the next target. Just a little bit above him, slightly to the left. "This might take a while." He muttered, standing to full height, then onto his tiptoes, to gauge the height. The jumping exercise continued on until Luffy was sure that he'd made a good enough distance to see around better. Luffy quickly found himself sitting, relatively high above the terrace entrance to the palace, and he saw better down below. There was, like, a town. Right! He'd remembered smelling something like a town before this, yeah. He could hear machines and people, bustling, humming in the distance. See the smoke rising, and the slightest indications of figures moving, it was so exciting, like it activated a familiar buzzing in Luffy's skull.

For the first time, in what felt like a really long time, Luffy just sat and watched. A comfortable, small smile on his face. Something about looking in on a town from the mountains. That… that specific thing was familiar to him, it was- Oh. Luffy had nearly forgotten Mount Colubo. Nearly forgotten watching the inhabitants of Windmill Village, sitting down in the shade of the trees with his brothers…How weird, he was so far away from it, and yet he'd found something nearly identical. Sadness sent a sharp pain into his heart when he began to wonder how he could've forgotten. Maybe he was forgetting what he was supposed to be doing. He'd been gone so much longer than he'd intended. He should have missed it more.

For Luffy, that's where it became clear that he wasn't sure where he was going. He decided to go rock-climbing some more, probably to not feel as bad. He felt better doing things that felt familiar. Jumping up the mountainside reminded him of tree-swinging. Just a free ride until you knew where you were going. He'd decided that he could always make it back to the palace later. He'd ended up higher than before, he could see that the town he'd been glancing down at was in some sort of valley. The walls of the mountain seemed to hold it close and tight like a cocoon. For some reason, it seemed like the castle was built into the side of the mountain itself. Pretty cool, actually, reminded him of his house in the mountains, with the bandits. Or his treehouse with Ace and Sabo.

He was actually cut from his daydreams when he heard Sandersonia somewhere below him. After looking around for a moment, he saw her, a few dozens of feet below him, sitting on a terrace that he'd used for a foothold. "What are you doing?" her voice echoed and bounced off around for a moment. Luffy shrugged, hoping she could see the movement. "You wanna come down here, then?" again he only responded with a shrug. There were a lot less open footholds on the way down than the way up. Sandersonia regarded him with an upset grumble.

Luffy relented, beginning to rise from his new resting spot. "You gonna catch me if I fall?" he asked, Sandersonia waving away the question immediately, "Hell no! You got yourself stuck up there! If you can't get down, then so be it!" Luffy scowled, risking his first jump, he tried his best to use his wings to slow down and stick his landing. He rolled, and nearly fell off the side, but he did make it. First challenge clear. Luffy had to make up the roars of cheering, adoring friends, and family, because in reality, it was just the same, mean Sandersonia, giving him the "And…so?" look.

Luffy rolled his eyes, looking over the side and planning the jump in his head. "How did you even get outside?" Sandersonia called? Nearly throwing Luffy off timing. He glared down, saying, "I don't know." Again, he readied himself for the jump, steeling his nerves. The ind was at his back, his heart felt like it was in his throat, it was perfect timing. He went to jump, and went crashing through the floor. For a small second, everything was dark, or too fast for him to process. And then it was warm, and it felt like he was treading water. Add the rubble surrounding him, and the disorientation, and Luffy was very convinced that he'd managed to get himself killed.

Smoke and steam clouded his vision, and every time Luffy lifted his arms, he felt like he was wading through water. The natural reaction was to cough and sputter. Luffy found footing under his feet soon enough, scrambling to be as dry as possible. He sat on his newfound platform until he could finally open his eyes. As bleary as it was, it seemed to be a super large room, practically empty, except for a sizably large pool of water. It made him think of underground a cave system. There seemed to actually be something or someone there too. A whole heck of a lot taller than he was, like a marble statue…Odd, it kind of looked familiar…In an effort to see better, Luffy tried one last time to rub his eyes, and clear them up a bit more. This time, however, it actually worked, and Luffy was terrified of the results.

Of course, if he had to explain to the princess why she reminded him of a marble statue, he would use the fact that she was so blindingly pale, that she didn't look normal, even for yokai standards. He figured she wouldn't actually go with that reasoning though. On the bright side their awkward stare down was broken when she emitted a super-heavy layer of steam from her body, he couldn't see her anymore. The downside to this was probably the super large, two-meter long dragon that remained in her place. The water around the place seemed to act up, almost like a storm was brewing.

The princess was upon him in seconds, she lifted him into the air easily, holding him up so that she could look him in the eyes. That, like any other time that it happened, struck a pretty good amount of fear into him. The same ethereal, glowing blue eyes enhanced by the fact that the reptilian pupils signified either hunger or anger, Luffy didn't like either option. She didn't really say anything, but she did roar, in his face. Powerful and terrible, the sound alone shook the entire room, she then skulked (or at least the flying equivalent) to the edge of the pool, never putting Luffy down for a second. The dragon's one free claw grabbed a nearby towel, and then it let Luffy go.

For a good moment, the dragon just glared at Luffy, still holding onto the towel. Luffy just stared back blankly before he realized what he was supposed to do. "OH!" he quickly turned around, shielding his eyes. From what he could gather, he'd crashed into either a pool room or a bath house. And the princess just happened to be here. Sure, maybe it was her palace and she could do whatever she wanted, but did she have to be doing this? At this exact moment? Someone was being inconsiderate. Luffy was immediately turned around, now facing the human-looking princess. "What. In. The literal _hell_ are you doing here?"

"Not whatever it is you think I'm doing." Luffy shot back, trying to stand his ground. He hadn't done anything wrong, he'd just fallen in. "No?" she countered, "Then how did you fall from the roof? You shouldn't even be over here."

Luffy actually forgot about that, "I wasn't just going to sit in a room the whole day!" Hancock scoffed, "And you'd thought about watching a show?" Luffy was too caught up in the argument to notice the glowing eyes, "Please! Don't flatter yourself!" Hancock dragged Luffy off of the ground, holding him at eye level. "You're making my headache worse." She laughed a little at the end, like this was some sort of joke. But, it was more than obvious she didn't like the punchline here.


	7. Chapter 7: I Feel a Weakness

Luffy's punishment for speaking out against the princess was rope. Well, at first, she just began to choke the life out of him, but she stopped. Then she went, took a towel from nearby and tied him up with that. She then dragged him back, meeting with Sandersonia on the way. The Naga and Dragon princess spoke in hushed voices, but Luffy recognized tones. Sandersonia had the usual urgent worry in her voice, mostly because she'd seen Luffy fall into the bathhouse. The Princess sounded angrier than ever, practically hissing every word that she said. At one point during their argument, Hancock just threw Luffy towards Sandersonia, watching as she struggled to catch him for a moment, before turning and entering a different door.

Sandersonia held Luffy up, "What were you thinking?" she asked, untangling Luffy from the towel around him, "I just got so bored, I wanted to look around." He pouted, rubbing his neck. Sandersonia placed him on the ground, "You certainly know how to make a target of yourself." She mused, motioning for him to follow her. "It's because I'm so small." Luffy responded, upping his pace to match hers. And once again, he was torn from the floor. "Hold on now." The princess, fully dressed this time, now held Luffy by his tail. Again.

"Really?" He squeaked, dangling in the air. Hancock just looked him over, "Really." She then looked to Sandersonia, "Actually, I just really feel like I can keep an eye on him. From the sounds of it, it might get to be a hassle to leave him by himself." Luffy made a noise in his throat for protest, but was ignored. "Are you sure?" Sandersonia questioned, and Hancock nodded in response. "I'm sure… Nyon might have been _sort of_ right." Luffy sighed, watching the floor as he was walked in the opposite direction.

"You're going to kill me?" he asked, as he was placed down onto the floor. "You like to assume the worst of me." The princess noted, "It'd be pretty stupid of me to kill such a valuable servant." Luffy was honestly surprised that she remembered that. Though it did explain why he wasn't killed in the bathroom. Just _almost_ killed. Luffy sighed. "Are you going to chain me up?" Hancock had taken a chair, and now sat opposite of Luffy, three feet away. "I thought about it, but decided not to. I honestly just want to go to sleep." Luffy tilted his head, "Well why don't you, then?" Hancock looked him over, "Turn into a sheep."

"Really?" They were going to play a game right now? Luffy didn't trust it, and he didn't really feel like transforming, either. "Are you sure?" When she nodded, and handed him a leaf for help with the transformation, Luffy had to nearly bite his tongue to resist any sort of sarcastic remark. Hence, Luffy the sheep now stood before the princess, irritation hiding behind an involuntary bleat or two. "Good." The princess said, "Now… Well, I'm not sure…"

"Really?" Luffy repeated his question, trying to be more obvious with his disdain. "You're going to get huffy?" Hancock countered, seeming to draw up to full height, before backing down slightly, smoke curled off of her. "Look, just keep turning into things until I fall asleep. This isn't _that_ difficult." Luffy made another incredulous noise in his throat. "It's either that or we can have a go of you being chained up somewhere." She hissed, before wincing.

"…Does your head really hurt?" Luffy asked. "Yes, and you are no help." She muttered in response. "I didn't think I needed to be helpful…"

"You obviously weren't thinking then." She responded, holding her temples for a moment or so. Luffy scoffed, "I'm trying to be nice." He grumbled, the princess facing him, deadpan, "Trying." she emphasized. Luffy sighed, his own head was beginning to hurt. He had to compromise, or at least try to. She was being a bitch, as usual, but he _was_ wandering around when he wasn't supposed to be. This give-and-take was drawing on him, and wasn't feeling up to arguing either, as much as he's enjoyed the sport.

"What animal?" he mumbled first, then repeated it a bit louder. "What do you mean?" Hancock looked him over for a few seconds, sitting up again. "What animals should I turn into?" The princess shook her head. Free reign. Fun… Luffy sighed, he decided to keep it to larger animals, furry ones. It made more sense, in his head anyway. The most surprising thing is that the princess' half-cocked plan actually worked. She literally just tired herself out. Luffy figured that either she really did have a major headache, or watching other people work made her tired. Hell, he was tired. Luffy sighed, he could go to sleep for a little while, maybe…He could also sneak back to his room. His warden was sleeping for the time being. Surprisingly, he wasn't even planning a jailbreak.

She would probably wake up and eat him. Luffy shuddered at the thought. He'd seen that dragon, it wasn't just fake. Smaller than Sabo, and she was about the same amount of terrifying that Ace was. Especially her eyes. After thinking about it actually, she probably wouldn't eat him, she'd just suffocate him. Luffy slumped over, his current form a large polar bear cub. If he woke up before Hancock, he'd see about getting lost in the castle again. If he didn't, he would probably just ask if he could see Sandersonia.

"Can you…turn into a snake?" He actually jumped, tripping over himself as he stood up. Luffy had to look around the room several times before he realized that Hancock has asked. "A snake…Okay?" Upon further examination, he saw that she wasn't really awake…Like, she was sleep-talking. She responded well enough, but waving a hand in front of her face got no reaction. Luffy tore his transformation, and started the new one. The princess' voice sounded, "Good… Turn into a puppy." Luffy tilted his head, a small laugh escaping his throat. "Ha…Okay?"

Hancock was somewhat awake. Enough to still bark orders, anyway. She went on the usual rapid-fire tirade of calling out animals. Oddly enough, the tired princess still entertained their little game. Name after name, animal after animal, until Luffy slumped onto the floor, tired himself of the constant changing. "Are you done?" Luffy asked, watching the princess. He honestly expected her to just sit up, like she wasn't even asleep, and answer him. Instead, she just rolled over, facing away from him, "I'm done." She called, waving him away. Luffy shook his head.

He'd been dismissed, but he didn't have anything else to do. Luffy decided to close his eyes, for a little bit. None of his other plans would have panned out anyway. At least this way, he got some time to think on it and sleep.

Luffy was startled awake by the sound of the door. Someone was knocking on it, and calling out something he could hardly tell in his groggy state. Groaning, Luffy began to go open it, being beaten to the punch of Hancock's longer legs and easier stride. "Yes?" she questioned calmly, showing practically no signs of the headache from earlier. "I was just checking on you, Princess." Sandersonia, the ever-present reason Luffy lived so long, was standing in the doorway. "That's wonderful Sonia. Actually, I was wondering if you could take Luffy with you." Both Luffy and Sandersonia expressed deep confusion at the task, "It's almost dinner. I must have been sleeping for a good while…You know how he is when it comes to food, and I don't need my toys to get snappy with me."

Luffy didn't say anything, not like he could… he was hoisted up by Sandersonia without further prompting, who bid the princess a good evening and promised to bring him back here afterwards. They moved through the hallways in silence for a moment, before Luffy spoke up. "How do you ever find your way around here?" Sandersonia shrugged, Luffy felt it even if he couldn't see her do it. "I just know at this point, Luffy. She didn't choke you out, did she?"

"Not really. I mean, not in there, she didn't." Luffy mused, "…So if you know where we're going, then tell me." Sandersonia rolled her eyes, making a disappointed noise in her throat. "So pushy. I've never really eaten in the castle, so we're heading into town." Luffy's hopes actually picked up when he heard the word "town". He turned to face Sandersonia as much as he could, "Eh~? Seriously? Well come on!" Sandersonia rolled her eyes, more playfully, and kept on with their marching. "…now he's excited?"

They made their way through hallways Luffy tried to remember, but he lost his train of thought as soon as they made their way outside. "You're going to stay with me until we make it to the restaurant, okay?" Sandersonia chided, waiting for Luffy to nod. The boy scrambled from her hands, sitting a little way in front of her. "Sure." He nodded, leaning his ears instead of paying attention. "Come on, let's go!" he called, humping around the same spot excitedly. "It's not that easy, Luffy. Men still aren't allowed on the island, and even less so in the city."

Luffy pursed his lips, "So… what am I going to do?" Sandersonia, held her arm out, then gestured to her tail. "Turn into a snake." Luffy tilted his head in confusion, "A snake? You know, that's not the first time I've heard that today." Sandersonia gave him a look, but shook it away, "Snakes are all over the place, animals and yokai…No one really bats an eye around them. The most inconspicuous design." Luffy looked at her, already pouting, "Well, why didn't you say that back when I could-" Immediately, Sandersonia threw him some flowers, leaves intact, to cut him off. Her smug face causing Luffy to roll his eyes. Taking the leaf, he transformed into a snake. Sandersonia immediately burst into laughter.

"What?" he called, lower on the ground than his original form. Luffy huffed, watching as Sandersonia only shook her head. "What are you laughing at!?" Luffy was, in a word, ridiculous-looking. A snake with a dopey-looking face, no longer than a foot in total length. Just sitting at Sandersonia's feet. The Naga had to lean against the closest wall for support, still snorting and guffawing away. Luffy rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I'm sure it's hilarious… Can we go now?" For a moment, Sandersonia shook her head. Then, after taking a huge, calming breath, she nodded, holding out her arm for Luffy to slink up. "Just so I don't forget you while we're in town."

"My hero." Luffy stuck out his tongue, turning his attention back to the town as it got closer with every step- or rather, moment that passed. Can't really count steps without feet. They were down the mountainside in moments, and now stood among dozens of people. Luffy's jaw dropped, there were tons of people here, not one single person the same as the one in front or behind them. Sandersonia wasn't giving him much time to look around either. She practically moved through the crowds like they were water. Luffy whined, "Hey! Can't you slow down a bit, I can't see anything." Sandersonia shook her head, with enough force to shake Luffy around. "No, I've got a goal. I'm taking you to eat something, then straight back. You don't need to go around sight-seeing." Luffy grumbled, watching the people go by for a moment, before perking up at the smell. Whatever it was, he couldn't tell specifically, but it smelled delicious. With renewed interest, Luffy nudged Sandersonia with his head, "…Where are we eating?" Sandersonia looked over at him, "Gonna be honest, I don't know the name of the place. I just know where the place is."

Luffy huffed, not as upset as before, but still… His curiosity was peaked, the waiting game was more than a little bit irritating. This one did end up with him eating food though. "Is it even a good place?" He asked, Sandersonia nearly going for her default move before deciding on a nod, "It actually is, honestly. I love the food they have. Had nearly everything on the menu." As they approached a particularly strong set of smells, the people seem to crowd even more. Sandersonia put a protective hand over Luffy to prevent him from falling off her shoulder and being lost. "You'll probably like it. All sorts of meats, dressed up in all different ways." Luffy nodded, his small body re-charging with excitement.

While Sandersonia was larger than a majority of the people in the establishment, there were still too many people there for Luffy to get a clear reading on everything going on in front of him. "There's always a rush around mealtime…Gah, this is ridiculous. I wonder if I have enough money on me…" Luffy looked at Sandersonia immediately, eye wavering with worry. "Do you?!" Sandersonia frowned for a moment, thinking about it. "…Maybe. We'll see." Luffy nodded, then after a small moment of silence. "Is the money on you, or…?"

Aside from how long it took them finally get food and to sit down and eat it, Luffy's mood stayed relatively unchanged. Sandersonia asked him how he'd been doing today, and if Hancock had chewed him out for roaming around. "No. I'm not sure what was wrong with her, she looked tired today." Sandersonia, who'd ordered a rather sizeable bowl of soup (Luffy wasn't sure if that's because she was larger herself, or if it was just the serving size.) just drank it up, nodding, "It's kind of stressful having to readjust to the island, the village, and the castle every time we get back."

"Do you guys go out on the ocean often?" Luffy asked, tearing into one monster of a steak. When Sandersonia confirmed this, Luffy pressed his questions. "Why? You're a group of yokai, out on the ocean? … That's like one of the least safe places to be for us."

"That may be, but it's fucking amazing." Sandersonia smiled at the thought, as if she was still among the ocean waves, and hearing the blood-curdling cries of unfortunate sailors. "Luffy, you're first time on the ocean wasn't exactly the greatest, but would you ever consider doing it again?" Luffy shrugged, "Maybe…My brothers would have to come with me though. They're better at fighting than I am. Smarter too, unfortunately."

" _Unfortunately_?"

Luffy smirked, reaffirming his statement with a nod, "Unfortunately. That means that without them, I don't know half of what I'm supposed to be thinking." Sandersonia laughed, "That explains literally all your life choices so far!" Luffy found himself smiling wider, "That's not even fair! Most of what happens to me is your fault!" After laughing for a bit, Luffy looked around, everyone who'd been crowding the place beforehand, they were thinning out. He could pick out individuals from the mass of bodies. "Hey, Luffy? We're going to try for tomorrow morning, okay?"

He didn't hear her the first time, his attention focused on only the people going around. So many different people. He'd never seen so many monsters in the same place. And not just yokai either, there were also tons of humans and others that he couldn't even tell. "-You don't even hear me, right now, do you?" His head snapped back towards Sandersonia, "What?" Sandersonia bopped him lightly on the head, "I will smack you off of this table." She picked the snake-monkey up by his tail, "I said you might be going home tomorrow."

"Oh~! Okay." Sandersonia put Luffy down, "Seriously, we need to get you back to your brothers before you forget how to breathe." Luffy bowed his head sheepishly, "Sorry." Sandersonia huffed, "I don't want your apologies, I want results." She was being playful, but Luffy knew he'd messed up enough for there to still be a serious tinge to her voice. "Sandersonia sighed, "I'll feel better when you aren't still perpetually kidnapped on our island. "

"So, this yokai isn't truly staying here?" Luffy didn't scream for once, but in his surprise, he nearly gave himself whiplash turning to face what he now knew to be the voice of the Nekomata. Gloriosa, or Nyon, she was standing beside the table where he and Sandersonia were eating. She wasn't much taller than the table mind you, but her voice dripped power and authority. At first, Sandersonia didn't acknowledge the alleged advisor, instead choosing to look somewhere off in the distance. But she relented, "Yeah, he's not staying." Luffy turned to her in shock, he'd assumed that this was exactly what the cat wanted to here so that she'd kill him. He didn't want to die, and Sandersonia didn't seem to want that either, so why-

"Good." The nekomata jumped onto the table, mostly for height purposes. Luffy scrambled backwards as fast as his body could take him, "The longer he stays here, the higher the risk that he'll die here." Sandersonia only nodded, "…You're right." Luffy stopped, "Wait, you're going to help me?" Gloriosa looked at him for a moment, eyes dilating in the process. "What are the alternyatives, really?" Luffy shook his head out of instinct, lips pursed. No reason to look a gift kitty in the mouth. Especially when said mouth was filled with sharp glistening teeth.

"So, when are you planning to execute your plan?" Gloriosa turned her attention back to Sandersonia, who picked up the conversation with little pause. "Tomorrow morning, early as possible. The runt has a habit of ruining every plan we make for him." Luffy scowl went unnoticed by the two women, the older of which, only regarded him after a moment of thought. "Is Hancock involved in any of this?" When Sandersonia shook her head, she was met with confusion, "Really?" Once again, Gloriosa looked at Luffy, sizing him up. "I don't see why she wouldn't." Despite the offense that Luffy took, he had to admit that it was better that this particular yokai was rooting for him to get back home. He just had to not mess this up.

"Tell me when you're ready in the morning, alright?" Gloriosa made sure that both Sandersonia and Luffy agreed before hopping off the table. It was only she left that Luffy realized. "How?" Sandersonia tilted her head, "What do you mean, how? You just stay in a place we can get to you. Me and Marigold can sneak you out of the castle and have a boat-"

"No! Not that! This!" Luffy winced, gesturing to his plate, or what was left. Gloriosa must have made sure to land on it when she jumped on the table. Luffy sighed, "… The longer I stay around you guys, the thinner I get." Sandersonia, holding her arm out for Luffy to hitch a ride, "Tomorrow, you can eat as much as you want. I'm sure of it. I'll look at map and set a trajectory for you to get back home. The name of the place you live is…?"

"Uh- Windmill Village. Should be to the East." Luffy says, climbing up Sandersonia's arm as he does so. "Are you taking me back to the princess?" he added, sitting on her shoulder. "Yeah, I promised I would." Sandersonia responded, making her way out of the restaurant. "Try to not get on Hancock's bad side for the next ten hours at least." She continued, knocking on the wood of a nearby building as she said it.

"I will. I mean, that I won't get in her way." Luffy assured, finding himself people watching again. "This place, it reminds me of my home." The crowds had thinned considerably since earlier in the evening, and Luffy could see the area much clearer now. "It does?" So pretty, the Sino-inspired designs really had a soothing effect on him. And despite the difference in design inspirations, it always reminded him of Windmill Village whenever he saw it. "Yeah, it's so weird." Luffy responded, "Like the mountains, the looks on the people's faces. Though there are easily _far_ more yokai here than in Windmill Village."

"Sounds fun. With the best of luck, you'll be headed back there soon." Sandersonia mused. Luffy nodded, continuing to watch the people as they made their way back to the castle. It was so jarring to head back to the castle after being in town. The castle was quiet and empty, despite the servants moving in and around every hallway. It was… very unnerving, very silent. Compared to the steady hustle of people moving through the town. In spite of himself, Luffy lowered his volume when he talked. "So, I guess I'll have to get up early in the morning or something?"

"It's preferable." Sandersonia whispered back, stopping in front of the doors belonging to Hancock. "Here we are. I'll see you in the morning. And I'll be praying for your safety in the meantime." Luffy agreed, hopping down from Sandersonia's shoulder and returning to his usual monkey form. "Can you open the door for me?" Luffy asked, looking up, at the handle, "Sure." When the door opened, Luffy rushed inside, eyes closed. He nearly tripped over himself, but he was going to deal with it for now. He needed confirmation first. "Princess!" he called, "Are you in here?"

"Yes."

"Are you decent?" he continued on.

"Pretty damn sure I am." Hancock's voice boomed in the empty room. Luffy raised an eyebrow, "You're not trying to trick me, right?" To which the princess responded, by poking him in the forehead, which forced his eyes to flutter open. "Did you want me to trick you? What kind of thinking is that to have?" Rubbing his forehead, Luffy rolled his eyes, "It was just a question." He looked around, nothing seemed to have changed much from when he'd left earlier, "Did you just go back to sleep after I left?" Hancock shrugged, "sitting down on her bed. "I can't really say."

"Does your head still hurt?"

"I'm not sure about that one either."

"Why do you care?" Hancock asked, head tilting, "You seem so concerned." Luffy pouted, crossing his arms, "A servant's got to be concerned. It's probably written somewhere in the contract." Hancock rolled her eyes, "No need to be a smart ass. My head doesn't hurt anymore, thankfully." Accepting this, Luffy, sat down, attempting to relax a bit more, "Am I just going to stay in here all night, then?"

"Probably yes. Honestly, you'd end up getting in someone else's way if you were left on your own." The princess' response was exactly what Luffy hoped for. He wanted to make sure there wasn't going to be anything wrong with the plan tomorrow. "Hey," his head turned instantly when he heard the princess calling him, "Here you go." Luffy only managed to see something smack into his face with enough force to send him onto his back. He rolled, stumbling to get back onto his feet. It was a soft, large, pink pastel pillow. Very frilly and lacey. He glanced over at Hancock, "What do you want me to do with this?"

"Well, I'm hoping you can use this to sleep on the floor. Best case scenario. Worst case, you can try eating the pillow, but that's one of my favorites and I will hurt you." No surprise there, Luffy looked the pillow over. A bit too soft and dainty for his taste, but due to a lack of options, Luffy found a comfortable sleeping position. It was big enough and comfortable enough to lay on, anyways. "Thanks."

"…Don't worry about it, a Master has to be concerned with everyone in her employ." Making sure she could still see him, Luffy stuck his tongue out tauntingly, "Rude."

"Go to sleep while I still allow you the luxury, Monkey Boy." She mused.

Luffy would have stayed up longer, but he was pretty much tired at this point, and felt that if he did wait to go to sleep, the sleep deprivation would make him do something crazy.

~Double Dragon~

Ace hadn't actually considered much of anything as an excuse for why he was sore, and sleeping on the beach of some random island. That is, he had an idea as to why he was there, he just wasn't sure "why". Beside him, as he sat up on his haunches, Ace could see Sabo, sprawled out a few feet from him, snoring away. Ace grimaced, looking around. He didn't know how much time had passed, or where his current location was and where to head next. Ace moved around as much as he could, but he felt like he'd been pelted with rocks continuously.

"You got all of your aggression out yet?" Sabo's voice sounding, as quiet as it was at first, still managed to give Ace a small start. "…Yes?" Aggression? Ace only vaguely remembered attacking his brother, but the memories had already begun to flow back to him. H slumped back to the ground, attempting to curl himself tightly into a ball, "Oh~ no~…" he groaned, wincing as his wounds stretched with every movement. "It's fine, Ace."

"It's not fine, Sabo. Don't get all noble on me…" Ace muttered, peeking from his position. He could hear Sabo chuckling from where he laid down. "I'm sorry." Sabo shook his head, rearing up to look around. "There's nothing to be sorry about. Tensions were high and we needed sleep. Badly." Ace felt himself being pulled to his feet, "I just need to know that now we can focus on what we need to know." Sabo asked, and when Ace nodded, he continued to say, "Luffy certainly doesn't need either of us trying to kill each other."

The two dragons spent a small amount of time gathering resources, eating their fill and gaining their bearings. Ace insisted that he take the lead on where they need to go, and Sabo made him promise that as long as he chose their direction, there would be no unnecessary deaths. Well meant or otherwise. After careful consideration, Ace began leading them West. Not only because it was the opposite direction of Windmill Village, but also because there were larger collections of pirates on the ocean. While it was hopeful that Luffy would be stationary on some nearby island, it was far more plausible that he was just holding onto dear life, trapped in a ship on the ocean. He would most likely keep moving.

As heart-breaking as that thought was, Ace figured if they close the gap between themselves and their little brother quickly, there was nothing to worry about. As long as Luffy didn't get further away from them, they would be fine. Ace and Sabo took leave of the island immediately, their plan was clear.

~Dragon Empress~

She decided to move the monkey boy from the floor where he was resting. Hancock had considered just leaving him there, maybe she'd remember when she stepped on him or kicked him on accident…What decided for her was the boy's sleeping behavior, he was all over the place. Snoring, twitching violently in his sleep, drooling everywhere…She figured he'd start sleep-walking, but found herself more concerned he'd starting biting in his sleep instead. Instead of just dragging him around by his tail, or hoisting him up, she used the pillow he now claimed as a bed.

Wincing, Hancock found an accessible part of her old throw pillow that was not covered in drool, and pulled it. Making sure that the monkey wouldn't fall off, she pulled his makeshift bed to a corner of the room, farthest from the door. "He's already a hassle again…" she mused, making sure he wouldn't move suddenly and end up on the floor. She managed to sit, after several scares. "Christ…" Luckily, she managed to eat and rest up well enough. Of course, she didn't know he'd be doing all of this. The monkey boy didn't sleep like this on the ship. But that was also a different bed. This bed was at least several hundred times better than that horrid pink nightmare. If she had to give an educated guess, she could only assume he was more comfortable here.

That would be…unexpected, to say the least, but she could get behind that reasoning. After a little while, the world stopped swaying and she could feel more comfortable in the castle too. But considering she'd also attempted to murder him earlier, there were still things to be anxious about. The monkey boy's attitude was lax enough to pull stupid stunts, but it couldn't be enough that he just openly welcomed danger. It was _possible_ that he didn't see her as dangerous, but if that was the case…she must not be trying hard enough.

Hancock found herself sitting, trying to think of a way to rectify the whole "being a menacing threat" thing. A good Master/Servant relationship was either based in fear or respect. Considering all the "attempted murder" she was well on her way down the path of fear. She just…wasn't really feeling up to it. Hancock had spent most of her life being rude, angry, impatient, and belligerent. She hardly wanted to put that front up to the servants in her employ before the monkey. Truthfully, she was tired of it. You begin to put up an act in front of people and begin to forget how to put it down.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the monkey once again. He'd managed t throw his head off of the pillow, and it made the loudest _thunk_ as it connected with the floor. Grimacing, Hancock carefully moved him onto the pillow again. "Already a hassle…" she repeated, moving to place more pillows around the yokai, that way, if he slipped off the first pillow, there would be others so that he didn't hurt himself.

It felt better trying to take care of her servants than it took energy to scoff and humiliate them. The longer Hancock sat and thought about it, she began to see more promise with the "respect" route, despite earlier misgivings. She found a compromise after long hours of thought. Treating everyone with respect after not doing so for a very long time, it might be a bit jarring. She considered starting small. Being nicer to this yokai would be excellent practice. Sort of, she treated everyone of her servants with more care and sincerity than he, but that was probably the point. She could start being…not nice, but more considerate overall. Making sure the yokai male didn't get a concussion could help.

Maybe all this would help the headaches go away. She would like that


	8. Chapter 8: One Last Time

Luffy woke with a start, feeling that his heart had stopped for a moment gave him the jolt to wake up. The room was really dark, and felt so big and empty, that Luffy managed to forget where he was. Even when he did remember, his confusion barely lessen. He started to stand up, and nearly fell back onto his chin. His claw had managed to slip on the surface…of a pillow. In the darkness, Luffy could vaguely make out what looked to be a sea of squares surrounding him. Pillows, and far more than there were yesterday. Did something happen while he'd been sleeping?

Taking a sharp intake of breath, Luffy attempted to navigate the darkness. He slipped multiple times, but luckily, he never hurt himself. All the pillows on the ground really cushioned his many falls. When the pillow minefield was behind him, Luffy noticed that he still wasn't sure where he needed to go. Today was the day he got to go home, and he had to get to the door for when Sandersonia came to get him.

That is, as long as he hadn't already slept through their window. Luffy felt a small wave of anxiety build at the thought. He was already convinced that Sandersonia would kill him herself if he messed up, but he honestly didn't want to see anybody if he had messed up yet again. Luffy considering traversing the large room again, to try and find the door, but he didn't want to risk waking up the princess or winding up in more trouble. Luckily, Luffy wouldn't need to worry about any of that. On another round of looking around the room, Luffy was stopped by two bright blue eyes staring at him "Christ! What the hell!?" Luffy yelled, pushing face in front of him backward. The eyes blinked, backing off enough for Luffy to figure out the form of the person in front of him.

"Princess?" he asked, watching as the woman sat up a bit more before addressing him. "Yes. Monkey Boy, why are you up so _early_?" Luffy shook his head quickly instead of answering, he couldn't think of anything plausible to say. "I…have to use the bathroom." He drawled out, looking for any sort of quick exit way to no avail. "You do?" the princess eyes were probably the only things that glowed in the vicinity, and they sort of demanded attention as a result. Luffy could see the gears working in her head. But he couldn't tell whether it was in his favor or not. "…I don't- I don't know my way to a nearby bathroom in the dark like this. Hold on."

Luffy waited in stale silence, watching as the eyes tore away from him, then as they sort of hovered away to what he could only assume was one of the walls for the room. Before the lights cut on unceremoniously and made him flinch. "Hey…" He mumbled, blinking furiously as Hancock stood above him. "Hey yourself." she responded, rubbing her eyes too. "What are you doing awake so early in the morning?" Luffy shook his head, "…I already told you." Hancock moaned, walking over to her door and throwing it wide open with ease. "Come on, then?"

"Come on? What do you mean?" Luffy asked, stepping towards the door, "We're going to find the bathroom so that you can use it, and then we're going back to sleep." Luffy scrunched up his face, "I can go by myself!"

"You have no idea where you're going." She retorted, obviously bored with the conversation already. "Yeah, but neither can you! You don't trust me to go to the bathroom?" that specific inquiry earned Luffy a look, "Not really. No." He'd almost forgotten the incident in the bathhouse. _Luckily,_ she didn't. "Fine. But if that's the price, then I don't have to go anymore." Luffy grumbled. Hancock just made her way back to her bed. "Well," she started to say, sitting down on the side, "If that's all then go back to sleep."

Luffy scoffed, watching as she literally began to lay down and doze off. "Really? That's it?" The princess raised her arm, making the thumb's up motion before putting it back down. "What if I just peed all over the floor?" The princess took a moment to answer, settling on, "Honestly, that would just be really disgusting. Almost too much." A brief silence occurred, the princess following up with, "You're not actually going to-"

"GOD NO!" Luffy nearly shouted, immediately quivering with embarrassment and anger, "Forget I even brought it up!" Hancock shrugged, sitting up once more, "Fine, I guess." Standing from the bed, she opened the door, "Come on then." Luffy sighed, his excuse had backfired on him. He considered for a moment, _not_ listening to her, then he figured he'd already tried her patience enough already. He was surprised she hadn't already tried to kill him

Hanging his head, Luffy stalked out of the room and was immediately greeted with a solid darkness. "What…?" he murmured, turning back to Hancock, whose eyes began to glow immediately as she stepped into the hallway. "It's freaking pitch black!" He squeaked, seeing Hancock's eyes zero-in onto him. "Yes, I know." She mused, blue eyes beginning to dart back and forth. "Let's go, before you use the bathroom on yourself." Luffy was really beginning to hate that excuse. Mentally, he slapped himself, making note to create a list of better excuses in the future. Maybe Sonia could help him out with it.

They walked down the hallway for a good few moments. Occasionally, Luffy would be stopped by Hancock pulling on his tail, and wait it out while she tried to remember where they were going. Granted, it wasn't exactly completely dark, there were torches strategically placed every few feet or so. But that only made the hallways too similar, as well as not really providing enough light for either yokai to know where they were going. The only thing that saved them from going around and around until the sun was high in the sky was Sandersonia. Unfortunately.

They rounded the corner, Luffy only able to keep track of Hancock because the woman refused to let go of his tail at this point. He was like a seeing eye dog. But only if the seeing eye dog couldn't see a damn thing and the blind person was better at navigating. He was pulled to a stop right as he rammed into something, which was followed by the familiar gasp of his serpentine protector. "Oh! Hey~…" Sandersonia, while Luffy couldn't see her, the tone of her voice was so nauseatingly sweet.

Obviously, Hancock was genuinely delighted to see her, "Sandersonia! Thank goodness we found you." Sandersonia looked between the both of them, "Why? Is there something wrong?" Luffy had started to shake his head, but Hancock was the one speaking for him right now, "Luffy had to use the restroom, but…I honestly have no idea where we are. Can you take him and bring him back?" Sandersonia immediately glared at Luffy, her forked tongue flicked in annoyance. "Sure? I can't believe he's got to go to the bathroom right now…"

"I know. It's interesting enough. I'm going to try and find my room, if it's all the same. Maybe get in some sleep." Hancock responded, releasing Luffy's tail and making her way back. "Uh, Princess? If you keep heading straight back from here, you'll be at your room in no time." Sandersonia called. Hancock's glowing eyes blinked in response and she turned at left. "Luffy had spent the whole interaction looking at the floor. His tail began to curl around one of his legs anxiously. "I hate you." Sandersonia's voice lowered, echoing in the hallway. "I know." Luffy responded.

Cue Luffy being lectured by Sandersonia in the middle of a dark highway. "Really? You had to _go to the bathroom_? Luffy, you knew. You _fucking_ knew what we were doing today!" Luffy nodded, Sandersonia continued, "This is just the latest in a long line of attempts you've thwarted! And I'm starting to doubt that this is unintentional!" Luffy snorted, glaring up at Sandersonia, "I'm not doing this on purpose! I didn't mean to! Can't we just go on with the plan anyway?" Sandersonia shook her head, voice booming, "No! We can't. The princess is expecting you back after you do your business!"

"Why are we even hiding the fact that I'm trying to escape this island anyway?!" Luffy countered, "You act like she really cares about what her servants are doing. Especially me!" Sandersonia groaned, "You said you promised your unyielding service, didn't you? That kind of bargain isn't one that's so easily destroyed, Luffy! Sneaking-" Sandersonia caught herself yelling, holding up a hand to calm down, "-sneaking you out of here in our _only_ option. Aside from any that result in your death."

Luffy got quiet, frowning deeply, "I'm sorry." He stuttered out, to which Sandersonia sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "…I'm not letting you off the hook here. Gloriosa going to be really mad. Wondering why we've not come out to meet her yet." Luffy gulped, as scary as Sandersonia was, she'd was marked by her kindness towards him. As far as he'd seen, Gloriosa was more similar to Hancock, in how easy it would be for her to try and kill him. "One more try." He looked up from his daydream, Sandersonia gave him a somber look. "What? What did you say?" he asked. "I said one more try." Sandersonia stated, "I'm not doing this again. I can't help you anymore after this, Luffy.

"Why the hell not?!" He stood to attention. "Because! I've been pushing off a lot of the duties I'd already devoted myself to, trying to get you home." Sandersonia stated, kneeling so that she could look at him more on his own level. "I feel for you, I do, but I can't. Marigold is doing both her own work and mine. I probably look way too suspicious in front of other soldiers… I can't help you anymore than I am now."

"It's my fault that you even ended up on our ship in the first place, so maybe I'm making up for it now, but I can't help after this. You're not the only person I have to look out for." Luffy listened in silence. He wanted to make an argument for it. Wanted to say that she was being rude or selfish. But she had been trying way too hard to help him out… and it would be a lie if he hadn't felt there were times he thought that she would die over him. Instead he just looked to the ground, before nodding, "I'm sorry." He repeated.

The duo made their way back to Hancock's room, Sandersonia laying out the new plan to Luffy, as they walked. The last plan. She was, of course, going to have to explain the situation to Gloriosa. But, after calming the Nekomata down, they would try to kidnap him during lunch. Take him out of the village, and to the beach on the far side of the island, where a boat was waiting for his escape. This time, it was Sandersonia who promised the success of this mission. Luffy could do literally anything he wanted, as long as Sandersonia was able to take him out to the village for lunch. To Luffy it made sense, and as his stomach tightened at the thought, this plan had to work. Luffy sighed, trying to release some of the inner tension. Sandersonia jabbed him in the side," What? Did you actually have to use the bathroom?" she joked. "Shut up." Luffy responded, walking into the room after Sandersonia opened the door for him.

Luffy walked in to a complete darkness. It was like Hancock hadn't expected him to walk back in here. After bumping into several things, Luffy found himself treading the pillow-y ground he'd awoken too earlier. Exhausted, Luffy collapsed onto the pillow pile and closed his eyes. He'd only get another few hours or so to rest, so he figured he'd get it in while he could. He heard a voice somewhere in the room mumble a soft "Good night", but he was pretty sure that no one was awake right now. He responded in kind as he began to drift off, "G'night then."

Like he figured Luffy woke up literal hours later. Hancock woke him up, instructing him that he needed to get up and get ready for breakfast. The princess herself was leaving for the bathhouse, and gave further instructions for Luffy to stay there. Either Sandersonia or Marigold would be coming to get him later for breakfast, anyways. Luffy nodded along, but aside from the basics, he hadn't heard much of what she was saying. He just sat in his pillow fort, wherever it had come from, until a knock was heard. Unable to open the door himself, Luffy went for shouting, "Come on in!"

On the other side, Sandersonia and Marigold walked in, accompanied by Gloriosa. Luffy sighed, scratching his head. "Am I about to die?" he mumbled, Gloriosa responded by smacking him in the head. "Not today." Sandersonia responded, "We're going to breakfast, so I figured this was another opportunity." Luffy side-eyed both Marigold and Gloriosa tentatively, "…An opportunity for me to die?" He heard Marigold snickering, doing nothing for his statement. "Come on!" Gloriosa snapped, "We have things to do, and I don't feel like you should waste anymore of my time." The Nekomata glowered at him for a moment longer, before pouncing away, and walking into the hall. "Someone's in trouble…" Marigold whispered, then turned to Luffy with a kinder smile, "It'll be fine." With a nonchalant shrug, he moved out of the room as well, both snake sisters following.

The walk to town, now that Luffy had seen it once, was…well still glamorous, but not in his current state. He'd nearly forgotten to turn into a snake before they walked among the people. The awkward and tense nature was thick in the air between the small group, and Luffy decided to break the ice per his own usual way. Talking to Marigold. He slithered onto her shoulders, nearly scaring the yokai, and whispered, "Why are snakes so commonplace here?" Marigold, after thinking on it for a moment responded with a small wince, "I'm not entirely sure. Might have something to do with how powerful the serpentine creatures are received around here. Most of our matriarchs have been snakes or snake-like, and many of our strongest warriors were the same…" That answer actually brought Luffy to something he'd been thinking about since earlier that morning. Quieter, Luffy asked, "…What do you and Sandersonia do here?"

Yet another question that required thought on Marigold's part, "…We're warriors. The strongest, both of us. We're like the left and rights hands to the princess. Enforcing her laws and all that." Luffy rolled his eyes, "Why can't she do that herself?" Marigold sighed, as they walked into the restaurant, she immediately found a place to sit down with Luffy, "The monarch makes laws, they obey laws. They can't always enforce them." Luffy nodded, he didn't really understand, but it was enough information for him to swallow, for now at least. They were given their breakfast, and sitting around the table, Sandersonia happily took charge. "We'll be enacting the plan soon enough." It was simple enough, and she didn't say much else about it. Probably too afraid that if anything else was said, they'd be jinxed.

Honestly, if it meant that this last plan could work, Luffy would use every single superstitious, mumbo-jumbo tactic there was. Luffy ate the food he was given, listened in on conversations between the women at the table, and when he was full, he spoke up. "Thanks for the food. Thanks… for everything else." Sandersonia and Marigold both gave him an energetic nod. "You know…If it helps." Sandersonia said, smiling. "Everything returns to normal after you leave anyway." She added, mischievous smirk growing. Luffy rolled his eyes, "Thanks."

The foursome departed from the breakfast in groups, Sandersonia walked Luffy back to the castle, per norm, while Marigold and Gloriosa readied the escape vessel for the last time. As the two walked back down the halls, Luffy looked around with the same interest he had the first time coming through here. "What are you looking for? A way to destroy the castle?" Sandersonia chuckled at the thought. "You don't think I could?" Luffy challenged, beginning to wander ahead of her, "Actually, I think you could. You've caused property damage before. I don't think you _would_ on purpose, no." Luffy scoffed, looking back at her, "You just never let things die."

"Not things that I don't want to." She responded. As they approached the princess' room, the matriarch was actually getting back there herself. "Good morning, Sandersonia." She chimed, the Naga responding with a small, uncertain wave. "Princess…? Are you just getting back from your bath?" she asked, watching the women nod, "Yes. Good morning, Monkey." Luffy gave a small nod, "Morning. Did you eat something yet?" The princess shrugged, "I can eat later." Luffy sighed. "That's not exactly healthy." Hancock looked him over, opening the bedroom door, "Am I supposed to take dietary advise from you?" Luffy looked himself over, "What's that supposed to mean?"

This time, instead of Sandersonia just leaving Luffy alone to deal with Hancock, she stuck around. Her and the princess caught themselves up in talking about various different topics, some personal, some professional, Luffy wasn't really listening in. He sat around on his pillow throne, looked around the room hear and there, and tried to keep himself entertained. While Luffy was unaware of how much time had passed, it was enough that both women decided it was time for lunch.

"Well I guess it's time-"

"You guys should probably head out for-"

Both women looked at each other, Sandersonia motioning for Hancock to speak first, "You're going to take the monkey to lunch with you in town, right? You should probably get going." Sandersonia nodded, tight-lipped, "…yeah, thanks! We'll see you later." The Naga motioned for Luffy to head to the door. Before the two could leave, Luffy called out over his shoulder, "Make sure you eat something!"

"Make me." Came the dry reply.

"I'll miss her the least." Luffy snorted, following Sandersonia as they took a different route through the castle. Sandersonia laughed in response, "Aw, really? I'm beginning to think she likes you." Luffy looked down the hallways, "If the only qualification for that is that she hasn't killed me, I _might_ agree with you. Still don't like her." Sandersonia only laughed harder. Luffy snorted again, accompanying it with a smile this time. Sandersonia led them out of the castle, through the way Luffy first arrived here.

As they made their way through similar paths leading to the outskirts of the island, Luffy realized. "Why didn't we actually get lunch first?" Sandersonia sighed, "There's lots of food on your ship you know. We made sure of it."

"Is there lots of meat on the ship?" Luffy asked, climbing up onto Sandersonia's shoulder, "…I guess. I didn't really pack your rations, that was Marigold's job." From Luffy's vantage point, he saw that they were making their way through a pretty well-decorated grotto in front of them. "This should take us to the ship. You'll be able to eat well afterwards."

"Yeah? If your sure." Luffy responded, looking around. They walked through pretty dense forest, the entrance to a sort of hidden beach where he was going to be sent off from. That's what Sandersonia was saying anyway. Luffy just went along with it. The forest, well…Luffy figured in any normal circumstance, this would be a hassle or tedious. Luckily Sandersonia knew what she was doing, and she was easily more frightening that anything else, save a few other people… They exited the dangers of the forest and arrived on a small beach. Both Marigold and Gloriosa were already there. The nekomata was instructing Marigold on something, and the latter was just agreeing continuously. Probably something so that this all could run smoothly, Luffy figured.

He was greeted, at least by Marigold, with welcome arms. "So, this is my ship?" he asked, looking it over. It wasn't a large ship like he'd figured it would be, certainly nothing like the yokai-infused ship he'd come to the island on. It was like a small dingy, big enough for him to fit in comfortably. The front of the ship was shaped like a smaller version of the larger serpent yokai. Lips pursed, Luffy looked between his helpers and the ship. "…Thanks." Sandersonia lowered him off of her shoulders, "You're not impressed?"

"No, I'm impressed. I really am. Thank you." Luffy looked over the ship once more, waiting for permission to enter. "Well, cool. Go ahead. Once you're inside, we're going…Actually, get inside the ship first." Luffy immediately felt hesitant, "Why? What are you going to do?" Sandersonia waved away Luffy's questions, "It's fine. You'll be fine." Even giving Marigold a worried look gained similar results. Luckily for Luffy, Gloriosa didn't really seem to care. "Get in the ship, and we're going to throw you out as far into the ocean as we can." While he didn't make any noise as he turned to Sandersonia, the alarm on his face asked all the questions that he wanted to.

"Uh, well! Geez, okay… Yeah, we're gonna have to throw you into the ocean! But for a good reason." Sandersonia sputtered over herself, giving dirty glances at Gloriosa from time to time. "Look, the boat that you're using, it's got oars, not an engine. And the ocean that surrounds our island is perilous, even to us. If we can muster the power to at least get you a good distance away from the island and the dead sea that surrounds it, you should be fine." While Luffy still looked a little on edge, he didn't really need further prompting or explanation. The less he knew about it, the better it would probably go. Carefully, he stepped into the ship. "Here are some supplies," Marigold called, placing a bag nearly five times the size of Luffy into the boat, "it's just some food, water, and blankets that we felt you might need."

"Thanks." Luffy nodded to her, inspecting the bag only a little bit before sitting down in the ship. Marigold smiled, moving to talk with Sandersonia and Gloriosa, before all convening once more with Luffy, "Just hold on to something okay?" Sandersonia said, waiting for Luffy to acknowledge her before turning to Marigold. "Do you wanna do this? Or should I?" Marigold bowed her head, gesturing for her sister to continue. "Well… It's been nice having you around, Luffy. I hope your brothers don't mind us keeping you to long, and I hope you find them." Luffy nodded, "Yeah, I would say 'see you later' but I'm not sure how possible that would be at this point." He could hear her stifle a laugh, "Yeah, maybe…"

Luffy felt the boat as it was hoisted through the air. Sandersonia was much taller than he thought, or her tail was a lot longer than he could've thought it to be. He could barely make out a conversation they were having below him. "Is this high enough in the air, Gloriosa?" that might have been Sandersonia's voice. "High enough, this is just the peak of your arc, you know. Get ready. I'll count down." The old cat's voice sound so small. Luffy squeaked out in surprise as the boat began to tilt back, and he was forced to keep himself as upright as was possible. The supplies bag hardly moved at all, in comparison.

Against his better judgement, Luffy looked over the side of his little boat, seeing the ground was so close he could almost scoop up a handful of sand. "Get down into the boat, quickly now!" Luffy heard Marigold, complying with her immediately. He didn't have the capacity in his brain to know what was going on right now. He wasn't sure he wanted to. The last thing he heard clearly was Gloriosa, counting down it seemed, "3…2…1!" At the sound of one, his ship thrust forward at an incredible speed, so much that Luffy fell into the back bulwark of the ship. In this moment he closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, he found that he was high in the air. He could see the ocean pretty clearly, directly below him. It nearly surrounded him on all sides as his ship began to descend into the blue. The feeling of falling slowly into the water didn't last as long as Luffy would have hoped, not by a long shot. The crash of hitting the waves was deafening, and for a moment, Luffy was sure he would capsize and be lost to the ocean below. Even as the boat settled down, Luffy dug his nails into the sides. Only releasing when the boat had for sure stopped moving. "My gosh… that was terrifying." He muttered, looking around. Nothing but ocean, the deep dark blue surrounded him on all sides. From what he could tell, Amazon Lily was nothing more than a shadowy shape on the horizon behind him.

He was actually off the island. He was honestly surprised, but it was his last chance to get away from them. Not that he didn't appreciate Sandersonia, Marigold, and even Gloriosa for helping him get out of there, but it was still a bit of a shock. He'd seen something resembling oars to move the boat. As tedious as that was, as least he could now control where he was going. Luffy stretched for a moment, taking the time to remember which way East was. Pulling out the oars, Luffy readied himself for the long, inevitable trek that was getting back home to his brothers. He found his rhythm in the strokes and began to move out. Oddly enough, the first time the paddles hit the water, he moved pretty quickly.

Luffy felt the boat shake, more than it probably should've. He dropped one of his paddles into the water immediately when it happened. Cursing, Luffy stood and leaned over the side. The paddle had only begun to float away. With a sigh, Luffy began to lean out of the boat to get it back. The struggle that that was, Luffy would have begun to consider using the remaining paddle to retrieve the other, but something came up that made that a bit impossible.

A serpent, or sea dragon, larger than every other one he'd seen. It rose out of the water, pushing his small boat back quite a bit. Luffy winced, something from the depth of the Dragon King's palace easily, and it did not look happy to have someone rowing around out here. For a moment, the grotesque mug didn't look like it was going to notice Luffy. The boy decided to try and escape before anything went really wrong. Instead, the sea beast noticed him immediately, turning with a growl. The small dingy swayed with every movement the beast made, and it wouldn't take a genius to know Luffy's odds. This…this might have been what Sandersonia and the others were afraid he'd run into.

The beast reared its head immediately, rushing in to eat Luffy in one bite. And it missed, whether do to luck or its own ignorance, the beast crashed down beside the boat, and sent it a few feet away with a splash. "AAUGH!" Luffy screamed, once again crashing into the bulwark full force. Moving up, as quick as he could, Luffy immediately took to watching the ocean. The sea beast's body was still poking in and out of the ocean, no doubt already realizing that it had missed its target. He had to prepare himself, not for a fight, but for minimal damage. Luffy made sure his supplies were fine, moving to sit in front of him. This would at least keep him a bit more grounded, as well as making sure that his supplies weren't lost to the sea.

The beast burst from the ocean again with a loud, wave-splitting roar. "Here we go again…" Luffy murmured, wincing as water poured onto his little boat. The sea serpent found him much quicker than this time. It charged, this time, dead on with the boat. The boat splintered immediately, and even as Luffy momentarily dipped under the water, he thanked his friends for the resilient sea vessel. Gasping for air, Luffy maintained the skin-tight grip on his stuff. This was literally the worst position to be in. He couldn't swim, he couldn't fight, and he was too far from help. The sea beast pulled up, the frenzied look of his eyes zeroing in again. Another roar, another surge into the boat. Luffy's screams narrowly outdid the monster's. The bag splashed into the water only a few feet away, debris and water littering the area like raindrops.

One last time. The monster didn't really need to eat Luffy anymore, the water would take care of him anyways. His hands began to lose their grip, struggling for a hold on the soaking bag. Luffy winced, groaning loudly as he tried to shake the water droplets from his eyes to find the beast. "….! No…" The monster was moving towards him effortlessly, his prey secured, the admittedly small meal was won. The monkey didn't even want to see it. He couldn't do anything. Almost in an effort to drown out the roars of his incoming doom, he yelled at the top of his lungs. It didn't matter anyway.


	9. Chapter 9: Stranded Without Sense

p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"The boat had flown off a good hundred feet away from the shore, and for a moment, it seemed to Sandersonia and the others, that Luffy's ship was in the clear. Sandersonia relaxed a moment, releasing the breath she was holding as she nearly collapsed next to her sister. "Are you going to be alright, Sonia?" Marigold questioned, to which her sister shook her head, a smile playing on her lips. Gloriosa, on the other hand, was not nearly as content, but she was very relieved. "I'm just glad he's gone, she mumbled, beginning to turn and leave. As Marigold began to collect Sandersonia from the ground and walk back to the confines of their kingdom, all three yokai were greeted by the calmest anger they'd ever witnessed./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""What are you all doing out this far from the town?" the princess' voice somehow came louder than the ocean waves behind the group, and she was much father away by comparison. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanHancock didn't even look that upset really, steam rose off of her skin, yes, but she gave no other signs of her emotions. Sandersonia rose to attention immediately, all prepared to answer her sister with a laundry-list of lies, however even before a single word was uttered… "It almost looked like you were skipping stones? But, I think that was a rather large rock you had… a boulder, maybe?" The princess' eyes lit up with every sentence, glowing brighter, and then dimming enough to show her sisters exactly what kind of trouble they were in. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanHancock's voice was still somehow quiet enough to not be yelling, the tone of a commander, and it continued to stay level and even as she made her way closer to them. "Ah. By the way, I was wondering if you all were finished with your lunch? Surely, it's time to get back to work, except for you Nyon, you don't work much anyways…" Hancock stood beside the group now, facing the ocean, "And where is the little monkey? Did he wander off into the woods? He couldn't possibly have thought to use the bathroom out here-"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanFeeling caught, Sandersonia and Marigold began to try reasoning with their older sister, snaking around to better level the situation they'd found themselves in. Their words were once again caught in their throat however, when they realized that Hancock herself no longer showed the same calm as before. Surprise had found its way into her features, gazing out onto the ocean with immeasurable style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanSandersonia was the one who finally found courage through her fear, nudging Hancock's shoulder, "Sister? Are you alright?" she mustered out, watching reflexively as Hancock's eyes snapped to look at her./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"A-ah… yes." Hancock mused, hesitation still present, "I want to know something, and I want an honest answer…" This time, Marigold spoke up, more eager than Sandersonia had been, "Yes, of course!" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Could it be… that Luffy is out on the sea right now?" Hancock asked./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanFilled with curiosity, both Naga turned, looking back at the ocean once more. Just in time to see what looked like a boat, or at least… pieces of one, splintering in the air, as if an explosion had occurred. Sandersonia, with fear and anguish building up like a volcano, somehow managed the cool reply, "Yes."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanIt was in that moment, that Marigold and Sandersonia began to move towards the water, even without knowing what had happened, but neither of them could even make it to the water's edge. Instead, the princess herself seemed to have taken off, the wind stirred up from her one movement managed to stall her sisters in their place. Her form immediately shrinking into the distance./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanHancock, to be honest, wasn't sure what happened. After seeing what she was pretty sure was a boat, or at least parts of on falling from the sky, she didn't really remember much else. Aside from coming out of her stupor closer to the supposed wreckage than she would have liked. Close enough to see that there was a boat, and it was in pieces, and among the ruin there was a monkey-tanuki creature, sinking under the water. The princess' mind was a blur as she moved to retrieve him, the water around her rising and she made contact. Almost like it was parting out of her way. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanHancock was different in the water, well adapt to water and traveling through it, hell she could even breathe in it if need be… But even now this water looked thicker, murkier, more dangerous. She could barely make out Luffy's form. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Why did I do this?/em The thought occurred that this decision em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"may/em have been rushed. More like obviously rushed, if she had to be honest. Catching sight of her target, she made to grab him and get out of the water quickly, there were more than a few reasons to leave. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThe most dangerous of these reasons felt the need to barrage past Hancock at an alarming speed, sending the princess spiraling away from her course. As Hancock managed to right herself again, she noticed the large shadow-y form of a sea dragon. One of many. In fact, the area in which Amazon Lily was located was known as the Calm Belt, a place known for its calm seas, calm winds, and the largest collection of Sea Kings in the world. It was their nesting grounds, and a reason that Hancock's nice little kingdom didn't have more visitors. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanWhen she finally spotted the beast, it was charging at her again, large, and like a long black shadow among the water, she only managed to move out of the way enough for only her foot to be clipped, once again to spiral away further into the depths. Her new wound came in the form of a long running scar from the ankle down towards her toes. Blood flowed freely, only hindering her predicament further. As much as she loathed to resort to reserve tactics, she had once again found Luffy among the darkness, and something told her he was in no position for deep-sea diving. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanSimilarly, to an eel, Hancock moved through the water towards Luffy, ignoring the pain as it began to numb as salt moved in and out of the wound. Water was a friend to Hancock, her element. It was a friend to the Sea King as well, as it rounded to destroy its now wounded prey. It seemed to be something that sea dragons held in common. Hancock let out a snort, bubbles frothing around her immediately. The Sea King once again charged, rushing head first into Hancock, but this time, missing completely. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThe monster did seem confused, sure of itself, that it had tackled its prey. Only mere feet below, a figure not nearly half as long as itself stuck under its shadow, skirting though the water as naturally as a shark, towards the unconscious monkey boy. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanA thinner, shorter, sea dragon, more ephemeral, and spiritual than the sea king it currently evaded, safely made contact with the sleeping Fūri, and began to swim him towards the surface, all the while, a thin trail of blood followed./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanEmerging from the ocean, the new sea dragon seemed to emit a large, thick cover of fog as it found a place to safely deposit its objective. This should cover him for now, the sea dragon's glowing eyes lit brighter for a moment, surveying the area around to see if the sea king still haunted its trail. Even worse, it appeared that the one large sea king had invited its equally sized friends, or rather the blood of her wound did, to this unwanted party. Hancock could hear the gargling voices of the monsters below, almost as if the waves were speaking with each ebb and flow:/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Is this your botched hunt?/em" a new arrival questioned,/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Yes!"/em hissed what she assumed was the original, "em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"but I have been fooled, my meal as being protected by the Zennyo!"/em /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"How unfortunate!"/em cried the second newcomer, "em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Cannot even accomplish one little hunt with the Kuja on watch!/em"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThe three conversed for a long time, or at least it felt like it. The princess' only concern was how popular she was becoming out among the waters surrounding her kingdom. At least it was a healthy dose of fear… Even still, Hancock cursed, they would find her soon, and if she was being honest with herself, her now hind leg was beginning to ache louder than it had under water-/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanEven as the thought finally escaped her mind, something raked against the sides of her hind legs, pulling her under quickly. In a split second, she was under water again, a reactionary muscle spasm was the only thing that saved Luffy from a second dunk into the depths. She ended up tossing the boy into the air, and the last thing she managed to see before submerging was his hard collision with some of the floating wreckage. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"~Monkey Boy~/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanLuffy had blacked out, momentarily, awaking only what felt like moments later. He was half-submerged in the water, his head hurt like someone had been deliberately stepping on him, and his vision blurred so much that he felt he would throw-up. He did actually throw-up, so that happened, but it also managed to help clear his head a little more thoroughly. Raising his pounding head, Luffy found that he was still in the ocean. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"The monster!/em He began to spend his head wildly from side to side, checking for danger. Only one thing caught his attention, in specifically one area of the ocean seemed to boil clearly, whereas every else seemed relatively foggy. The fog was a perfect cover for the beast that poked its head out momentarily before disappearing again. The hair on Luffy's neck raised immediately./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanEven in this pseudo-drugged state, Luffy could find no escape from his pursuer, and even without his stupor, the hopelessness would creep into his very core all the same. He wasn't even sure why fate had him survive this long, but he cursed his luck all the same. With what energy he had left, Luffy made sure to pull his whole self onto his makeshift life raft, cowering into a small ball immediately afterwards to prepare for the worst. The monster had to have gotten within at least a hair's width before something burst through the surface of the water. Whatever it was created a distance between the sea king and Luffy, and for that, he was very grateful. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanSort of. Because Luffy remembered the terrifying form in front of him immediately. He wanted to be annoyed with the princess, and with her presence here, but it didn't seem right to do that when she was tackling the opposing sea king back into the water. Instead, Luffy watched as the large yokai drilled back into the water, huge waves pushing his little raft further away in the process. He even ventured looking around, over the sides of his raft to see what the monarch was doing. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanIt didn't seem like much, two giant dragons fighting one another to the death, happens all the time actually. Well, that was how Luffy wanted to rationalize it, in truth, it was terrifying, and the pit that settled in his empty stomach only grew larger with every hit and collision he witnessed. He wondered anxiously, em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"what if she loses…Where do I go?/em He couldn't fly or swim, especially not now, and he was unfortunately of no help here. Not that he really wished that could help. Worse even, Luffy didn't have to be a genius to see all the blood forming in the water, and even a stupider monster could tell that it didn't just belong to one person. Luffy backed away from the water's edge, settling back in the center, shaking furiously. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"He wished that he could call someone else for help. Sandersonia, Marigold… they were much larger and stronger, maybe they could… Honestly, he wished he could call Sabo or Ace. Either of them could change the tide here, easily./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Caught in his musings, Luffy nearly didn't notice the shadow over him, not until a large splatter of blood dropped on the wood beside him. His breath caught in his throat, and for a moment he felt like throwing up again, but nothing would come. Luffy cautioned a glance behind him, nearly fainting at the sight of yet another sea king. This couldn't have been the one still fighting, because that would mean that Hancock had lost. But…/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"The large sea king was wounded pretty badly, an eye hanging on by sinews, and multiple scars and scratches leaking blood from its face and head. The one still-intact eye was already narrowed, fury seemed to leak as easily as blood did. It was not happy. Luffy seemed to be the only thing it could take its anger out on, and Luffy full expected that to come to pass. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Once again, a sea king lunged at Luffy, and the small monkey shirked back reflexively, awaiting death. He did feel like he was flying, but Luffy couldn't feel any pain. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"So this is death/em, he thought, a weightless feeling… His acceptance of death was immediately halted by the feeling of splashing into the water. Luffy regained his senses, finding that he was still alive, but how? The answer was simple, he'd been saved by the skin of his tail. He was rushed through the water for a moment, before once again breaching the surface, and this time, he saw that Hancock had managed to grab his tail into on of her pale, sharp claws, and seemed to be… running away. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Luffy winced, the tearing of claws into his skin mixed with salt water every so often, and it burned. He wanted to stop, but as he was being slung around through the air and water, he knew why they couldn't do that. Hancock was being followed, by both the first sea king, and the one that had been missing its eye. She was going to keep swimming until they got somewhere safe, he figured, or until the monsters were out of sight. And that would have been easy, if they were heading towards Amazon Lily, but they weren't. Luffy couldn't even see the shadow of Hancock's kingdom as he had before. It had completely disappeared from his field of view. Instead, he saw the ocean, the sea kings, and the large puffs and wisps of fog or steam coming from Hancock. Was she trying to cover them?/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Despite better judgement, Luffy called out to his current "captor", even if she couldn't hear him, "Hey! What are you doing?!" No response, the only sound was the splashing in and out of the water. For a moment, it seemed like Hancock had stopped, ducking into the water and taking much longer to come out of it. So long that Luffy was almost unable to hold his breathe. When she finally ascended, she seemed to settle still for a moment. Luffy sputtered and coughed, once again emptying water from his lungs, and managing to choke out, "Hey!... Where are you taking us, huh?" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Once again, she was silent, and waited still in the water, not even looking at him. "Do you think you could talk to me?!" Luffy called out, freeing himself from her claws, and sitting on her stomach, therein he found the problem. Hancock was maybe two meters long in this form, maybe a little less, and at least one-third of this length was now covered in various gouges and scars. Luffy's breath caught in his throat. Immediately, he moved his small form to run to see if she was even awake. He was em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"not/em going to use a dead dragon as a raft. Sure enough, she did seem unconscious, and she was already bleeding very badly. Luffy cried out in anguish. If she was dead, he was style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Luffy attempted to wake her up, smacking the side of her face as hard as he could, yelling in her ears, pulling the tendrils on her face, but nothing worked. His frustration built up, and he could do nothing more than sit with his head in his hands. "Shit…" he whispered, tail curling around him as he immediately felt how small and hopeless this was becoming./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"A low rumble in the ocean began to pick, nearly sending Luffy toppling over. Fear added itself to the list of emotions as Luffy realized that the sea kings may have caught up with them. Instead, the rumbling turned to a roar, the roar of ocean waves. Personally, Luffy would have preferred the quick death by sea kings to the slow drowning of the ocean. But either of these, he added internally, would better serve him than starving to death on the ocean sitting on top of a dead dragon. The wave was incredibly tall, even nearly three knots off. It had even begun to pull Luffy and Hancock in. Silently, Luffy was hoping this would end already, but something inside of him made his body hold on. Literally, Luffy ended up holding tightly onto one of Hancock's more secured scales. Holding himself as close as he could he timed the waves hit perfectly with closing his eyes and holding his breath. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Again, Luffy was able to open his eyes, but he couldn't how much time had passed, or where he was. They'd been swept away. God, Luffy sighed, he must've passed out when the wave hit. He was glad that he was able to hold on for as long as he did. But he was more tired than he'd been before./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"The monkey boy gained his bearings, releasing his grip on the dragon princess to walk around and find out where he was. Great as it was for him to be alive, it didn't d much for his situation. Well, they were finally away from the ocean. So that was something. Yes, as it stood now, Luffy saw that they'd manage to reach some beach. And while his memory wasn't the greatest, it certainly wasn't the beach he'd left from earlier that day. If this was even the same day. So good for survival, and bad for survival… the score was still all tied up. Luffy hopped away from the princess and began to scour around. There was a large amount of forest, in front of him, and he was far too tired to go traipsing around. He wanted to, but he also didn't really have the energy. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"He began to walk to his spot on the beach. It's easier for people to find you if you're in the open, right? If there were people, and if it was a good thing for him to be found, this was Luffy's best option. If there wasn't anyone around… As he began to consider this, Luffy wondered if he should begin to head off once again. If he had any chance of survival at all, he would need to head out now. And besides, he reasoned, he had lived on a mountain for years, the better have of that spent in the forest among the animals and yokai. He could em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"do/em this. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Shaky resolve was better than none at all, so Luffy decided he would enter the forest, maybe find some food, and set up camp. Maybe. Just one little tic on his to-do list before heading out…/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Luffy sat there for a moment, wondering if it was good to bury a dead body on the beach. Wouldn't the water get to it? So, what if it did? That was a water-burial, right? Even still, he was pretty sure it was bad luck to bury someone where they died. To be honest, Luffy did want to bury the princess anyway. She been nothing less than a monster to him, and threatened his death constantly, who cared if she was the one who bit the dust? Granted, she did die saving him, and if she hadn't, then this would be a very different predicament. And well… and this is kind of a sore subject but, she wouldn't actually be em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"dead/em at all if he hadn't been escaping imprisonment at that very moment. Luffy huffed, and after a moment of silence, wondered where he could find some sort of large piece of bark or a stick to mark as a headstone./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Where do you bury a dragon? Luffy wondered, having wandered into the forest and back after retrieving a leaf. He may have been exhausted, but he wasn't so much so that he would strain his back trying to lift heavy objects. He transformed into a form he hadn't used for a very long time, that of the human boy style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanLuffy counted his fingers and toes, noting the scars and welts, both old and new that patterned his skin. The now boy monkey sighed, tail twitching as he considered how to pick up the large dragon. She wasn't so wide that he couldn't lift her by her head, so he decided to try there. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Holding the princess in a headlock, Luffy tried three times to life her off of the ground. He didn't have a very good foothold, what with it being sand, and him wearing flip-flops… It took a few moments, and by then Luffy realized that he'd forgotten to dig a hole for the body first. "Ah~ shit!" he hissed, already struggling to keep the dragon away from the ground. He didn't want to do this again, and he was already losing his grip. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""What in the em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"hell/em-!"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""What the em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"fuck/em is going on!?" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Luffy heard voices behind him, another notch in the bad-luck belt. At least he was transformed, so it was… actually, no, it was still pretty bad. At best, he was a boy struggling with a dragon, they might think he needs help (in this scenario, he actually doesn't. but they wouldn't agree. Humans are too nosey!) and at worse, he was a boy trying to kill a divine, mythical beast, and they would go over to kill him. He wasn't even sure if he could speak. How do you explain this? He didn't talk to many humans, and the few he talked to recently were all douches./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Like predicted, the humans began to run towards them, Luffy could hear the calls and cries asking if he was alright, and what happened. They sounded nice enough… Luffy began to turn and talk to them, maybe create a half-assed excuse as to why he was just sitting around with a dragon in his arms, but he couldn't. Well, not the way he wanted style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanHe only managed a quarter of a turn before stopping, something holding him there. Luffy looked down, and in his arms, he saw that the pale supposedly dead dragon now looked up, somewhat. Her eyes had completely glossed over, and she was frothing at the mouth at this point, but Hancock was alive. The dragon snarled, loud and low enough that the vibrations were shaking the ground where Luffy stood. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Did she recognize him like this? Was she growling at him, or at- "Oh god no…" he whispered, suddenly remembering that his captive was the leader of a notorious man-hating pirate clan. "Hancock, if you can-" She took off, a long forward jump that sent not only her, but Luffy whizzing past the humans into the forest. And luckily enough for Luffy she was trying to snap at him. It suddenly got very difficult to keep her mouth closed. The two of them managed to crash into and through a series of trees, and every hit loosened Luffy's arm a bit. Only for him to try and regain his strength before they crashed again. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Luffy wasn't stupid, as much as he'd like to be. He knew that Hancock had to be delirious, she was growling and spitting and cursing like her normal self, but if hat were the case, she would have freed herself and killed him at this point. It had to be… shock maybe? From her wounds, she didn't auto-magically heal just because she passed out. So Luffy had been wrong before, she wasn't dead, only style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanThe dragon princess continued to jump about and crash and thrash, in an attempt to shake Luffy off. She was tiring of it quickly though. Just like in the ocean, her jumps became shorter and shorter, sending them toppling to the ground hard many, many more times before Luffy finally let go. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"When he actually released her, Luffy was sent spiraling downhill, sliding into a large tree, Hancock was thrown a few feet from him, destroying yet another tree as she collided with it and causing it to fall onto her. Luffy sighed, officially now everything on him hurt. And he was so tired. So tired… On the bright side, he didn't get the matriarch of an island nation killed, so he figured Sandersonia and Marigold would appreciate that. For now. She might actually still be dead, to be honest. God, he thought callously, Somehow, I didn't even fight the sea kings and I'm still hurting! Luffy felt himself slump over a bit, rest was calling to him all over again. He knew he'd wake up this time, but he really didn't want to feel that pain in the morning. He could hear the voices of the humans from before. Maybe they were fisherman. Mem style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"aybe they trade meat and medicine for the story of the boy who fights dragons? /emLuffy snorted, sending that thought away. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Maybe they'd kill him for being a monster/em… His tail wrapped around his stomach at the thought. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Would they kill Hancock too? She was kind of already at death's door, they may just leave her there. Luffy risked a glance in the princess' direction, noticing that she was trapped under the debris she caused. They might not see her. If she died here, and he didn't he would pour out a beer for her. Luffy could at least promise that much./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"The voices were quieter, even though the forms of the men were getting closer. But that was around the same time that his vision began to fail for the last time that day. /span/p 


	10. Chapter 10: A Reason for Loss

p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Luffy woke up, mostly because someone was hitting him in the stomach really hard. He almost snapped at the person who was poking him, but instead he saw that it was a grown man, of the gruff, adventuring sort. His bark turned into more of a yip, as he scooted backwards as fast as he could. "H-hey! What do you think you're doing?!" he managed, voice still an octave and a half higher than he meant it to be. The man looked Luffy up and down before bursting into laughter, he immediately turned to something behind him and began to bark at someone./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Told ya he'd make it! Now pay up!" his voice boomed, immediately giving Luffy a headache./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"What-?" Luffy started to talk again, but the scene before him took all words from him. He was still outside, but the forest was sort of gone, more like it was a clearing towards the edge of the forest, there were tons of people here, maybe just a collection of pirate crews, residents, and adventurers, but tons of them were just walking around. There were quite a few buildings around here, and more hidden away from Luffy that couldn't see. Some sort of city, he guessed. But the weirdest thing was all of the bubbles in the area. Lord…there were a lot of bubbles here. Luffy's attention snapped back to the man who had been messing with him earlier. "Why in the hell were you poking me?" he growled, with more of his usual tone back, the man actually turned to face him./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Because you were just lying there, practically near death!" the man retorted, with a justified nod, "So?!" Luffy asked, now sitting cross-legged on the ground. "So? So, the Doc said that you'd be fine in no time, it was just a bunch of scratches! A real man ain't got time for lying around!" Luffy snorted, skeptical immediately, he leaned towards the man, and muttered, "So then what's all that got to do with whatever you're betting on?" Luffy felt the smallest amount of pride when he'd managed to make the guy stutter and stammer, "W-well, you see, we were having ourselves a little wager! Yeah! To see when you'd come to and-" Luffy stood up, ignoring the head rush it gave him and walked away. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"If the doctor said he was fine, and that's all he said, Luffy didn't have to wait around for random bozos to talk with. He would probably need to head home now. Luffy made his way towards the forest, hoping at some point it would lead back to the ocean, and maybe some boats he could make use style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanAs he left the large collection of crowds, the strangest feeling passed over him. "You're just leaving now?" a husky, raspy voice called out, immediately making the hair on Luffy's neck stand up. When he turned, he saw what pretty much amounted to a dead body./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Luffy slowed to a stop, trying to cover his shock with a sullen pout as he realized he was the one being addressed. "…Yeah? Did you need something?" The living corpse waved Luffy over to where he was standing. "Ya. C'mere a moment." The monkey really didn't want to. There were a number of things wrong here: for one, a corpse was just walking among living people. And secondly… what did he want? Even still, Luffy skulked over, reflexively covering his mouth as he neared the shadow-y figure./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Of course, a corpse would smell/span/emspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"… Luffy internally groaned, whatever this guy wanted, he would need to make it quick. Luffy didn't want to get in trouble for puking on someone. The corpse man had no qualms, waiting for Luffy to settle himself before speaking. "'m just gonna check on your wounds, 'n then you can leave." Luffy nodded along absent-mindedly before stopping. "Are you a doctor?!" he quickly realized, looking what he now knew to be the physician over once more. "How?!" The doctor corpse ignored him, grabbing hold of Luffy's arms, where he had bandages wrapped tightly around. "Seems to be healing up right…" the doctor murmured, completely ignoring Luffy and his rude statement. The only time he interacted with Luffy was when the boy literally pulled his arms away from inspection, "Oi! Could you be a little less-!" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"The doctor paused in his tracks, irritation turning into confusion, the monkey boy actually looked super happy. "That's so em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"cool/em!" Luffy practically screamed, "Did you die a doctor? When did you die? How did you die? Do your arms fall off? Or your head, or-" Luffy had nearly forgotten his own situation in his excitement, so the doctor reminded him by punching his shoulder which was bandaged like most the rest of him. "Should you worry about yourself, Monkey-ya?" Luffy winced, immediately tending to his arm, "Well excuse me, I feel fine. So, there's nothing to worry about anymore. You were the one who wanted me to come talk with you!" The doctor let out a small dry laugh, "I wanted you to come here, not to talk."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"The two men stood in silence for a bit, until the doctor spoke up again, "Anyways, you should be fine now. Jus' try not to push yourself." Luffy nodded, "Cool," he mused, "I've got two questions." Even though the doctor's attention now diverted away from Luffy to something else, he nodded his acknowledgement, "One," Luffy started, "do you know where I could get a boat?" The doctor looked up a moment before shaking his head, and though Luffy cursed, he continued, "… Well, the second thing I wanted to know is if you could tell me where I am right now, and how I got here."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""That's actually three questions, Monkey-ya." The doctor countered./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Can you answer them anyway?!" Luffy snapped, glaring the doctor down before looking at the floor. "…They found you in the forest near here." The doctor started, pointing due south of their current location where the trees began to pick up in number. "Brought you to me because I was a doctor, and I was nearby." Luffy tilted his head sideways, "They trusted a yokai with that? I mean, like… you em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"are/em a spirit, right?" The doctor nodded, "They did. And I am. Couldn't find anyone else." He started to walk, having gathered what looked like items of a medicinal quality. Luffy scrambled to follow him, they were having a conversation, after all. "Ain't you a yokai as well?" the doctor asked, Luffy nodding before vocalizing his answer, "…I- Yeah, but don't humans hate monsters and spirits?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""They don't have much of a preference around Sabaody Archipelago" The doctor shrugged, "You don't stand out much either, so that helps." Luffy side-eyed him, "Okay… Thanks for helping, I guess…?" Luffy mumbled, to which the corpse doctor replied, "'s okay. 's what I do anyways…" The duo managed to walk to the edge of a long string of nondescript buildings, one with its doors wide open, "If you'll excuse me Monkey-ya, 've got work to do. Ask any man around here and they'll probably help you get off of this island." Luffy nodded, "Thanks I guess… again anyway." Luffy watched the doctor begin to disappear inside of the building stopping halfway through, before pausing to look back. "Actually…" he started, leaning back through the doorway, "I do need your help with somethin'." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"The doctor led Luffy through the door, showing that he had quite the little operation set up here. "Is this your office?" Luffy asked, slipping between the many people inhabiting the space. "Temporarily." The spirit replied, worming his way through much easier, "You're really busy, huh?" Luffy attempted conversation, mostly to distract himself from the intense body odors he was smelling, nothing was quite as bad as the corpse smell…but that was different. Sour and Rot were two different things altogether. "Oh… I have no idea who these people are." The doctor's calm persona struck Luffy as odd, especially when he followed his statement with, "They weren't even here when I left."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Then em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"why/em are they here now?" Luffy asked, a mix of concern and annoyance forcing his voice a pitch higher than he style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Don't even know… Here we are, Monkey-ya." Finally squeezing through easily the thickest part of the crowd, Luffy took in a small breath of air. "Thank god…Ha~…W-what did you want?"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanThe doctor, waited for Luffy to collect himself before pointing at something in front of him, an operating table. At first Luffy had figured the doctor was playing some sort of trick on him, but even after blinking and rubbing his eyes, the sight in front of him remained the same. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""The same men that found you found her under a large tree. There are quite a few fatal injuries here, and I figured you had somethin' to do with it. Have you ever seen this person before?" The doctor had Luffy all the way back here, to show him the now sleeping form of the same monster that had been haunting his nightmares for days. "…Uh, sort of?" he replied./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"~Double Dragon~/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Maybe it had been a while since Ace had begun giving the directions, and also a little because he wanted to not have any doubts… but the longer Sabo followed along, the more he realized Ace actually seemed more lost. Though his brother had promised to not rush head-first into danger or stir up any more trouble, he saw that Ace was having problems trying to maintain his composure when he only had so many options. Tact—not the closest word next to "Ace" in the dictionary. But Sabo appreciated his efforts. They were only hovering above a small collection of islands when Ace spoke his concerns with Sabo, one of the few times they spoke to one another in the past few days. "Sabo!" Ace called, loud enough to startle his golden brother. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Sabo flew closer to his brother, "What's wrong, Ace? Did you find something?"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanThe fiery dragon nodded, slowly as if he was deciding whether or not he'd found something worth investigating. "Where?" Sabo prompted, watching his brother with earnest. "Ah…Over there, it's just one lone ship, but…"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""But?" Sabo pressed further…/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanAce just shook his head, "You're the one with the eagle eyes, you tell me." Quizzically, Sabo turned to the direction Ace offered. There was just one ship, and there was obviously something wrong with it. It was rested against sharp rock outcrops, maybe there'd been a storm or fight… Sabo flew in closer, Ace flying behind. "Yeah, I get what you mean…" Sabo murmured. He wasn't a dragon with a great sense of smell, but it was good enough. His little brother had been here, a long time ago, but he em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"had/em been here. Sabo turned to Ace, both brothers thinking the same thing:/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Check the ship."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I'll check the ship."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanAce disappeared to roam the mysterious pirate ship. Sabo stayed behind on the main deck, examining and trying to piece together what might have happened. There was a lot of blood… a lot of blood. And while he forced himself to believe that some of it might belong to Luffy, he refused to acknowledge it as any more than his brother being hurt. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Luffy would be fine/em, Sabo forced himself to style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanAce would find him hiding in the pantry of the ship or in the kitchen… He would be style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanJust as Sabo took a minute to breathe, Ace returned to the deck, looking just as distressed, if not more so. "He's not here." Ace nearly cried out in his frustration, settling for blowing a dark, thick plume of smoke that covered the ground before dissipating in the wind. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Sabo, we-… Do you think-" Ace cut himself off, anxiously floating around. Sabo looked the ship over once more, "We should try to find out what happened here." He decided, voice uncharacteristically upbeat, all things considered. "He's not even here!" Ace countered, and Sabo could see the flames he held into the back of his throat. "We'll find clues to his whereabouts. He certainly couldn't have gotten very far with all this happening." Ace managed a choking, laugh, "Are you serious?! Everyone on this ship is either dead or…" he trailed off. "Can't get much worse than dead, Ace." Sabo chided, but Ace shook his head, "You can, actually." Sabo sighed, already becoming tired from his brother's worrying. "Luffy's fine. All these men here and their rotting corpses were found, but there was not one small monkey in attendance to this."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""That doesn't mean he wasn't tossed overboard…" Ace contested, Sabo clapped his hand to his brother's shoulder. "You are absolutely no fun today." Ace sent his brother an annoyed look, that the golden dragon ignored. "Look, Ace. We found some clue of his whereabouts, right? We know we're not looking for a pirate ship anymore!" Sabo led his brother towards the edge of the ship, "But we cannot give in because we didn't find him here. Disappointing yes, but discouraging? Absolutely not." Sabo looked around, before floating over the edge with ease, "We… we just need… like a em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"sign/em from here. Maybe another angle. Neither of us can converse with the fish near here, or even the birds, em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"so we just have to/em…" Ace broke from his own sulking the more he watched Sabo struggle to ignore his own frustrations. "Sabo?" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""He's nearby!" Sabo blurted out, looking around, "There are rocks all over the area. He could have used them to get to a nearby island! We should keep checking…" Ace could see his brother struggling to keep an even breath. And even though he was already frustrated enough to cry himself, Ace sucked it up, jumping over the edge to join him in the air. "em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Which way/em," Sabo managed after a moment of silence, "…which way do you want to go?" Ace looked around himself, from the wreckage they just investigated and the surrounding area. "If you were going to attack a ship, I think you'd keep heading the same direction you were in when you boarded." Ace spoke with just enough confidence to get Sabo to believe he knew what he was doing. "It looked like they attacked from the left side here," Ace pointed to the ramming damage on the ship, "And they must have kept going west and north, considered the ship would not have rested against these rocks normally, and had to have pushed in the same direction as its attacker." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Like the good brother that he was, Ace ignored Sabo rubbing his eyes and nodded enthusiastically, "Okay! That makes sense." Ace snorted, confident smoke masking his own shaking, "Of course it does. We go northwest for now. Until we get another sign of him." With a new understanding both dragons flew away from the wrecked pirate ship, leaving behind momentarily any signs that their beloved brother had gone down among the number of bodies there./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"~Monkey Boy~/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"The doctor had seemed pretty adamant on getting Luffy's version of whatever happened that would leave Hancock in a state like this. He said some stuff about near fatal wounds, something about how surprised he was that she hadn't been crushed to death by a tree, and what this woman had to do with the supposed dragon that was reported to be attacking Luffy. The princess was in her more human, non-assuming form, just sleeping away. Even though she easily had just as many bandages and wounds as he did. Well, she probably had more. The doctor said that she had lost so much blood, and it was a miracle that she was alive, and he dabbled in miracles, so he was vey intrigued. This was actually the most he'd heard the man say since meeting him, and Luffy only had one question. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""So…you're saying that she's alive? Really?" he mused, waiting for some sign that she was even breathing. "Yes, 's really odd. So, did you know anythin' about this?" Luffy was going to start off saying that she was the dragon he was "fighting" with. But with all the questions he'd gotten already, he kind of wanted to keep that to himself for now. "Eh~…Nothing I can tell you off the style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanThe doctor pulled a sour face, turning back to his work, "Oh… okay then." Was he really upset that Luffy wouldn't tell him anything? Or did he suspect that Luffy did know something and was just playing stupid?/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Yeah… so I'll just head out then, sorry to distract you from your work…" Luffy turned to leave, immediately getting cut off by the doctor. "Well, if you can't tell me anythin' about the woman, then what about the dragon? They were sayin' you got caught up with one." Again, Luffy played dumb, shrugging away from the doctor, "Yeah, I don't really remember? It was probably really traumatic, and that's about all I got for you." Luffy did feel bad about lying, but he didn't want to be caught up with that monster again, and the longer they were near each other, the faster he felt death creep up on him. Besides, what could he say? em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Oh yeah, I was trying to bury the dragon alive, I didn't know she wasn't dead, and I guess she found out and wanted to make strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"me/strong dead./em That sounded stupid./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"While Luffy could do nothing more than excuse himself, he was starting to get the feeling that the doctor didn't believe him. "Yeah? Well, 'm sure it was traumatic. Remember what I said then." Luffy nodded, mock-saluting the spirit before turning way to head back the door. He only remembered the large crowds of people when he turned. Seeing that they were still hovering around the entrance. What were they even waiting for? Hancock? The thought actually made Luffy choke on his own laughter. They were waiting for that she-demon like someone who prayed for the apocalypse…/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Luffy squeezed his way through the crowd only for a moment, they began to buzz about excitedly, practically roaring as their noise volume picked up. "Really?" He practically screamed, trying to force his way back to the entrance of the building. To no avail, as he stumbled back onto his ass, and had to narrowly avoid being trampled. What the hell is wrong with these guys!? Luffy groaned as he was forced to fight for his own space on the floor among the dirty and dirty feet of the men towering above him. He considered turning back into his smaller form but realized that at least in this form they would kick him, it would hurt, and he'd be okay. If he were any smaller, they might stomp through his stomach and not think twice about it./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"As if perfectly timed to make him doubt his own judgement, one man's foot lifted forward suddenly, as if he was trying to jump through the crowd, but instead of jumping, all he managed to do was clock Luffy square in the chin. The monkey boy's face flew backwards, colliding with the floor, and clearing space by alarming his perpetrators with a loud yowl. Luffy practically screamed with pain, and his head rang terribly from the hits, but all he could do was cover his mouth and scream, he hadn't even realized that the crowd had cleared away a bit. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"As Luffy laid on the ground, the searing hot pain throbbed, causing him to rock back and forth a bit. His jaw bone was trembling, Luffy turned his head to spit out blood. Looking at the floor for a second as he marked this recent moment of bad-luck on his bad luck calendar. All his days were marked at this point. When he managed to sit up, he was afraid he'd made the pain worse. It suddenly felt so stuffy here, and his eyes were watering so much that everything appeared cloudy and steamy. He looked back to the doctor's operating room, thinking maybe he could get something for his mouth so that he could leave. Someone was standing in front of him, blocking the doctor from sight, so Luffy leaned to the side to talk to him, instead, whoever stood in front of him grabbed his already hurt face. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"He nearly barked at the most recent offender, grabbing their hand to push them away, "Is that really you, Luffy?" Luffy felt his heart skip a beat, daring to look the new offender in the eyes, and swearing as much as he could when he confirmed who it was. "…Fuck."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Hancock didn't let go of his face, instead crouching into front of him, (because she was still taller, damn it all) to get a better look at him. Her eyes focused on a leaf hidden under strands of hair for her answer, and actually flashed half of a smile before it darkened almost immediately. The steamy, foggy feeling of the room actually worsened, and it honestly felt like a storm was going to tear through the room at any minute. Luffy half-wished anyone around him could interrupt what would most likely be a murder./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""You-" her eyes were already flashing the brightest blue when someone tapped on her shoulder. Luffy would have cheered if the princess ever let go of his face. The doctor, standing over the both of them, had interrupted the princess. "Actually, can you let go of his face? I need to get him healed up." Hancock seemed angrier at the statement to be honest, raising to full height herself, still holding Luffy's face in her hand. "And who in the hell are you?" The doctor didn't answer her at that moment, instead tearing her fingers from Luffy's face and watching him drop to the style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanThe monkey scrambled to his feet, spitting out more blood, as he stood between what appeared to be an unstoppable force and an immoveable object. They glared each other down for what felt like forever, Luffy and the men occupying the hallways waiting for someone to make the first move. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Monkey-ya." The doctor spoke, staring Hancock in the eyes as he ignored her, "Come here so I can patch you up." Luffy didn't know what to do. If he moved, would Hancock kill him? She seemed to be feeling better, so she probably could…but she was probably going to kill him anyway. So then did it really matter if he got healed up, consider the ass-beating he was going to receive. Worth the risk, he decided, slinking past Hancock back into the operating room, the atmosphere of the room got even worse when he did. Luffy wasn't going to place any bets, but he was beginning to think that she might be causing the shift in the room. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"The doctor just didn't care, ignoring the princess' glares, and waiting for Luffy to walk towards him so that he could get fixed up. He just gave is some more bandages and treated the scratches on Luffy's face from where Hancock had grabbed him. In a quiet, gruff version of his usual raspy voice, the doctor murmured, "So you do know somethin' about this woman?" Luffy almost forgot he lied to him about that… "Uh, yes?" Luffy offered, rubbing the bandages on his face. "'S alright that you didn't tell me. 's your business to tell. I ain't got to know." Luffy nodded. The doctor, backed away, waiting for Luffy to make his move to leave. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Luffy looked to the door and saw that Hancock was just sitting there, visibly steaming, like a lot. She was sort of turning pink in places. Despite his better judgement, Luffy walked over to where she was standing. He heard the doctor's voice behind him, "Don' hurt him again, I don' wanna see either of you back here if I can help it." That was directed to Hancock, Luffy was pretty sure. He walked past his former "boss" hoping that she would follow behind and not get into it with a doctor. She was mad enough that he could hear every clear step of her heels on the ground. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Luffy walked for a few good paces before stopping and turning around, Hancock was still there, and still steaming. He was going to regret it, but Luffy felt himself asking, "…Are you feeling okay?" She didn't answer his question, putting forth her own, "Why do you look so ridiculous?" Luffy looked down, yeah, the furry young man with the multitude if bandages were probably not a look, but it was what he had to work with. "The disguise is for the humans. The bandages are more than likely your fault." The princess didn't look openly shocked, but an eyebrow was raised. "I didn't touch you." She hissed, fog settling along with the ground with her words. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Luffy scoffed, "Yes, you did! You tore through the trees around here trying t kill me!" He'd pointed into the direction of the forest, trying to jog her memory. "I didn't! I don't even know where we are!" Hancock insisted. Luffy stopped, "Are you serious?"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanHancock nodded, "Yes!" her voice rose a little higher, gathering attention from anyone nearby, "The last thing I remember is almost being killed by those sea kings!" Luffy was honestly hoping she did remember, it would have given him a little leverage for his anger. Instead he huffed and turned his head. "Well, yeah, all my wounds right now are your fault!" he growled, "And you're still being a pain in the ass!" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""If that's the case than all of these wounds are your fault, right!?" Her accusation caught him off guard, "Because I sure as hell wasn't hurt before I tried to save your insubordinate ass!" Luffy swung his head around, ready to counter…but she was right, and he was left there with his mouth hanging open. She was covered in just as many bandages as he was, but only if we were talking from the waist up. From the waist down, she had a cast on her foot. A large one. And that wasn't even counting the thick number of bandages around her right forearm and shoulder. His eyes met hers and she still looked like she wanted to argue, but Luffy had scratches and bruises at most. There was no contest./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I'm sorry." He still sounded argumentative, but his body language suggested style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanThat seemed to piss the princess off more, but she just snorted and turned away. "What were you even trying to do?" she questioned coldly, "Out there on the ocean in a boat like that, what were you up to?" It actually came to Luffy's attention for the first time since he met her… Hancock would have no idea that Luffy had been trying to escape her so that he could go home. They didn't really talk, and when they did it was about completely random things. With a hollow realization, he managed to offer his answer, "…I was trying to go home. Trying to leave."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Hancock's face, well Luffy couldn't tell what emotion it was, but it quickly melted away into a similarly empty look. "Oh." Luffy didn't even know why, but he began to offer evidence and reasoning for wanting to leave. Trying to justify himself and his actions to this…warlord. "You literally just found me on the ocean! Didn't ask where I was from or em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"anything/em! And every time I tried to do something against you, you almost killed me! Why would I tell em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"someone like you/em I was going home instead of just doing it?!"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Hancock didn't even answer him. Luffy didn't feel well, carrying on a one-sided argument wasn't fun at all… "Hancock…" he called to her, becoming surprised when she began to walk away from him, "Hey! Where are you going?!" Hancock didn't stop walking, but she did speak up, with a cold voice that didn't betray any of the emotions she had. "You should go home then."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanLuffy almost followed her, instead taking his stride back to the doctor's office. He didn't even know why, he just wanted to go somewhere he'd already been before. Even when he was at the entrance, he looked back, wondering if the princess had ended up following him anyway. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"She didn't./span/p 


	11. Chapter 11: The Death Doctor

Luffy honestly didn't expect the doctor to still be here. Even the group of sweaty, stinky men had filed down into a small trickle of people. "Hey!" he called, waiting to see any hide or hair of the doctor's presence. The spirit leaned out of his operating room, nodding a hello to Luffy, "Are you already hurt again, Monkey-ya?" Luffy walked up to the entrance and stopped in front of him, "What? No…" The doctor shrugged, going back to his work. "Well, what did you need then? You seem to have lost track of that woman you were with." Luffy huffed, "…Yeah, I did." The air hung silent in between them for a moment while Luffy gathered his thoughts, following up with, "Do you think you could help me get a boat?"

"Me?" the doctor sounded, invested in… well he looked like he was dissecting a dead body. "You hardly know me, Monkey-ya. I could trade you for some gold or somethin'." Luffy shrugged, "I mean, yeah, but- Wait. Yokai do that?" The doctor looked up from his work, holding out a gloved hand, "Sometimes. The name is Trafalgar D. Water Law. Most around here call me Law." Luffy was wearing about shaking the gloved hand, what with all the surgery happening in this particular area, but he would be wearier to shake the decomposing hand underneath said glove.

"So, what happened?" Law questioned, going back to his work. Luffy looked at him confused until Law looked back up, "With the angry woman who left with you?" Realization hit Luffy, "Right, right… you ask a lot of questions." He responded, but when Law only gave him a more quizzical look in response, Luffy groaned, "She left! It's not like we came here together." Law seemed to roll the idea around his head for a moment, "'S literally what happened though?" he pushed. Luffy groaned again, louder this time, "Whatever! Can you help me or not, nosy doctor?" Law shrugged, "Could try, 've got a ship myself if it comes down to it." Luffy gave an incredulous look, "You'd let some stranger onto your ship? That's… oddly kind considering what I've seen from you so far." Again, Law shrugged, this time accompanied by a bored sigh, "Kind or bored?"

Luffy grimaced, rolling his eyes behind the back of his new acquaintance. "You're gonna be like this, huh?" Law nodded in response, "'m done for the day, I think. Let's go see about gettin' you a ship." Luffy nodded, following behind the corpse doctor as he made his way from the makeshift office, telling some of the people in the building that he would be back shortly. Luffy followed Law around what he considered the bulk of the industrial side of Sabaody Archipelago. There were tons of ships, but none of them were available options to Luffy. And by the time their search was proving really useless, the sun had begun to dip low in the sky. Late afternoon came and settled in, and Law informed Luffy that he would have to get back to the office. Not due to any sort of schedule, but he really wanted to get back to his work. Luffy only agreed because he had nowhere else to be.

On the silent walk back to the doctor's office, Law's voice cut through like a knife. "So, I guess we're givin' you a lift back home, then?" Luffy had almost forgotten about the offer, and so happily replied, "Oh! Yeah, I guess so! Thanks!" Law reciprocated his thanks with a sleepy nod. "Are we only movin' you, or…?" Luffy looked him over for a moment before letting loose a loud, childish groan, "Uugh~…! ...Yes, you only need to take me home! Why do you ask?!" Law sighed, and Luffy could see the man roll his eyes, even with the growing shadows stretching across his thin skin, "Because… I don't like headaches."

"What does that have to do-" Luffy started, shirking back a bit when Law continued talking as if he'd not been interrupted, "And that woman, I only spoke with her for a lil' bit, and she created one of the worse headaches 'd ever had." Law turned to full face Luffy and the monkey could very clearly see the ethereal lights in his head that functioned as eyeballs, floating around the holes in his skull. "Just think it's be better if she left with you." Luffy couldn't tell if he was being playful or threatening. "'sides, "Law continued, placing his focus elsewhere, "You shouldn't just leave your companions behind in strange places."

Luffy sneered, "I don't have any companions. Not here. That's why I'm trying to get out of here." Law shook his head in response, finally stopping at the door as they reached their destination, "Like I said, I don't really like her, so I don' really care." He opened the door, with an inviting swing of his arms to say that Luffy could walk in if he wanted, "But you shouldn't be so caught up on old relationships that you can't make new ones." Luffy stared at him, blank for a moment before shaking his head. "I'm going to walk around for a bit more, but I can be back tomorrow." Law nodded, beginning to head inside. As Luffy began his own walk, he heard the doctor's voice over his shoulder. "By yourself then?"

"You're dead-set on this, aren't you?" Luffy called, stopping once again in his tracks. The two men stood, five or six feet between them, and still… Luffy could hear wry laughter coming from his new acquaintance. "'m tellin' you, she'll probably be more of a pain in the ass without you." Luffy growled, turning just enough to see Law in the doorway from the corner of his eye. "…I'll think about it."

Luffy split from the doctor's office, somehow making his way back to the clearing he first woke up in. There were not nearly as many people here as there were when he woke up that same morning. Mostly wanderers, but there were some faces that he vaguely remembered, though he couldn't exactly place when in the day he might have seen them. Among them, he found that he was actually lucky. The princess stood out like a sore thumb, interestingly enough, considering that she was trying her hardest to disappear into the forest's edge. Luffy stalked closer… he wasn't taking what Law said to heart, _not at all_ but… Luffy personally knew how annoying this woman could be. And if he left her here, she would probably follow them and destroy yet another ship he was on.

And anyway, he could use this to apologize for all her injuries. He could have Law drop her off near her home, she goes back to her sisters, he goes back to his brothers and they never talk about this or see each other again. Fair was fair, right? "Hancock?" his voice kept to quieter levels when he spoke, he didn't want to get himself in anymore trouble than he might have already been in by startling her. The princess looked like a stature- little to no movement, hard-staring at something way in the distance, and with this permanently emotionless look on her face. It wasn't really helping Luffy gauge her at all right now. She did look at him for moment, but she looked away just as quickly, and she didn't say anything.

"Are you mad at me?" Luffy asked, attempting to present his own anger. He thought maybe it would be better to approach her from that standpoint, they usually talked more when they were angry. Still the princess said nothing, instead keeping her gaze on something in the distance. Luffy managed to get within a two-feet radius of her, so he sat beside her. A quick glance over showed Luffy that she still kept the bandages on, which seemed to make it difficult to sit down for her, with one leg extended fully along the ground. Luffy, he wasn't a doctor, but he felt like he knew what to ask. "Do your wounds hurt really bad?" he questioned, managing to get a side-eyed look out of the princess, but nothing useful that he could glean from it.

"Cause, if it still hurts, I'm pretty sure the doctor could-" Luffy continued, cutting himself off when he found Hancock staring- _glaring_ , rather, intensely before turning back to her original focus point. The steam began to rise from her body anyway. _Wrong topic_ , Luffy noted, before falling into silence himself for a moment, and re-gathering his thoughts. "Well, okay. If your going to be _this_ difficult-"

"What do you want?" This time, Hancock cut him off with sound.

"What do you mean?" Luffy took the opportunity to scoot closer a bit. "Just making sure you're okay. You don't seem to like telling people how you're feeling." He added, tilting his head with a small smile. This gained another scowl from Hancock, who was now facing him, already looking red from the steam, and pissed off from… something else. "I'm fine." She grumbled, "You can leave now. I'm not going to stop you." Luffy sat back upright, rolling his eyes, "Yeah, I know. I- You should probably head home too, you know?" This time, Hancock made a dubious noise in the back of her throat. "Not really."

"No? Why not?" Luffy asked. Hancock shuffled for a moment, sighing, "Not that I shouldn't… I can't." Luffy turned to face her fully, "Huh~? Why not?" In response, Hancock waved one hand nonchalantly to her leg. "Usually, I swim _extremely_ well… I can't even feel it now…" Luffy winced, the guilt that filled his stomach, pooling over into his conscious, "So… does it hurt really bad?" The princess leaned back against a nearby tree, personal annoyance all over her face, "It doesn't," she spat out quickly, followed by a calmer, "…I just can't move it." Luffy noted that on the one side, this made it easier for him to offer the Doctor's help. But he also pointed out mentally that Law probably already knew that she couldn't move around on her own like that. _He should've said something to being with…_

Luffy pulled himself off of his ass, instead resting on his knees, "Well then, aren't you lucky?" Hancock looked over to him, the smallest evidence of a pout on her face, " _How_?" the steam kicked up for a moment, and the air around them became stuffier, "Ha, well. The doctor who worked on your leg, he offered me a ride home on his ship," Luffy started, watching as Hancock again seemed to tense with any mention of Law, "If you want, I'm sure we could stop by your island to drop you off." He almost had an innocent, naivety in his voice as he spoke. "No." The princess responded, looking away from Luffy again.

"No?" Luffy echoed, "Why not? It's just a little ship ride, you have your sea legs. I mean, if you don't want to hang out with me, I understand, but-" Hancock snarled, nearly standing up on her own before immediately sitting back down. "I don't care about you!" she hissed, "I don't need to reason with you on why I don't want to go!" Luffy huffed, throwing his head back with a loud groan, "Really!? What are you going to do? Sit around the trees until you're healed up?" Though she didn't answer, she just harrumphed and stared at the ground. "What about your sisters? And your subjects? What kind of monarch _doesn't_ want to get back and help her people?" Hancock choked out a dry laugh, "Ha! And I'm suppose to take this from a boy who runs away from his responsibilities?!"

Luffy had to stop his arm from swinging to far forward as he forced down his anger, "I knew you were still mad at me!" He shouted, "I shouldn't have to justify running away! I was practically your slave!" Hancock risked balancing on her one good leg to gain height over him, as their argument escalated, "I didn't know you were running away!" Luffy let loose a hysterical laugh, "And why would I tell you that?"

"W-… _Why_ would you even pretend to stay with- at the castle if you wanted to _run away_ then?" Hancock countered, eyes fully lit up as she stared the monkey boy down. Luffy turned his head up to look her square in the eye. "I-!"

He didn't actually know why, and he hated that he always lost because of that. Hancock just continued talking, and he heard her voice crack more and more, and the steam gathered around in force as she did so, "You~! You _fucking said_ you would be my servant! I didn't fucking want you to _stay_! You sat on _my_ ship and slept in _my_ castle for days on end!" She was shaking furiously and stumbling over her words like she had a careful monologue set out. "you could have fucking left at any time beforehand! _No one_ would have stopped you!"

The princess had gone back to sitting down now, shaking and rose-red in her anger. Luffy also sat, fuming on his own. He wouldn't apologize again, it lost its meaning the more he did it. She was very right, and he was actually grateful in a sense that they didn't have this conversation back near the doctor's office. "…Could you please just let the doctor take you home so that you can rest properly?" Luffy managed, staring at the ground, he scratched his head anxiously as he looked up. The princess was looking at him again, and he couldn't make up the tears actually streaming down her face. Just looking at her felt like being caught in the ocean again, nearly drowning. He looked back to the ground instead.

"Will you leave me alone the whole trip?" her voice was extremely quiet and cold, despite the tears that he saw.

"… If- If that's what you want." He responded.

"Just promise me that you will."

"…Fine."

They sat in silence for the next few minutes, making time stretch forever in that one spot. The heavy, drowning feeling never left the longer Luffy stayed, so he decided to wait outside of the doctor's office. He'd done what Law had wanted, sort of. There wasn't really anything else that could be said here. "I'm going to the doctor's office. Meet me there in the morning." He said, seeing the princess' reply in the form of a curt nod out of the corner of his eye. Luffy figured the princess could make it back there on her own, seeing as she had made it here on her own. If she needed help, she probably wasn't going to ask him anyways, he knew that much.

~ _Dragon Empress_ ~

That wasn't how she'd wanted that to go at all. Hancock only watched the monkey servant leave for a little while before going back to lean against her little tree. She wiped her face and tried to control the amount of steam that was releasing from her body. To be honest, her head hurt severely. She didn't even know how or why they'd gotten into an argument. She noted with a tinge of irony that she wasn't even going to try to speak with Luffy before the monkey boy had walked up to her. She needed space to think… she hurt all over and she was not processing it well.

When she'd woken up in the so-called doctor's office, she was pretty sure that she was nothing, but scars, scales and bruises wrapped up in bandages. She only remembered the ocean battle and passing out because of blood loss. She'd been attracting way more enemies than there originally were. And she couldn't protect Luffy and herself-

She caught herself with a sour mental note, _Why was I even trying to protect him anyway?_ He'd been a liar, and a traitor. Hell, he'd gotten her sisters wrapped up in whatever mess he brought with him. Trying to save him? A fool's errand, and a warrant signed for her own destruction. Even as she thought this, Hancock looked at her arms, her hands, her legs… Why _did_ she do that, what purpose did it serve? A voice in the back of her head attempted to remind her that she protected anyone who pledged service to her, but what if whoever she protected was lying? And why was she still so hung up over it? Did it matter now? She had been tricked and nearly killed, the only things she could do now was get home.

She winced, curling her legs closer to her stomach as she did. Why was she so ready to argue him over this? She shouldn't care that much! Another head pain sent her hand up to attempt rubbing her temples. So much trouble for this, for him… She didn't like it. She saw what was attempting to stir inside of her, and every effort to squelch it had ended with her own pain. Rack that up over old wounds and… Hancock hissed, she was already quickly uncomfortable with her current position. _This turning me against myself monkey is. How did I lose control this quickly?_ She let out a nervous, uncontrolled laugh. Even against the internal screams, she held her head tightly, almost like she was trying to hold it together. She'd never been this hurt by betrayal before…

~ _Monkey Boy_ ~

The morning met Luffy as he slept outside. He felt terrible, he'd forgotten to eat yesterday, his back was starting to hurt, and he probably agitated much of his condition with unwanted, unneeded stress. To bad that stress would be joining him on his final journey home. Ho growled, taking in a huge yawn as he waited for Law to exit his office. "Good morning~ Monkey-ya!" Law called out, no excitement in his voice at all. He sounded just as tired as Luffy, the only difference is that he looked more like it. "You ready, then?" Law continued, walking up to Luffy to add another unpleasantry to his morning. "Eugh~!... Yeah," Luffy sputtered, "Sort of. Hancock's coming too." Law either didn't notice the tone in which Luffy added that information, or ignored it, "Oh. You worked out your differences? Good, 'll make the trip a whole lot smoother."

Luffy gave him a backward glance, shaking his head slowly, "…No. Not at all what you're saying." Law didn't hear him, already disappearing back inside to gather "a few more things" as he put it. Luffy nodded, he didn't have much other stuff, so he just had to wait around. It wasn't long before the great princess graced the area with her presence. Apparently, she managed to get around on the backs of others. _Literally_ , there were a few dudes using like a cloth hammock and carrying her around like she was a fucking queen. Like she was, sure but…

Luffy managed the angriest face he could muster when she caught him in her sights. She reciprocated his gesture with an empty look and a small nod. God, his hatred of her was growing with every little second that passed. The men not only dropped her off, but also seemed to have dropped some stuff along with her. Law came out in the same moment, spotting Hancock and her new bags and giving an annoyed look of his own. "Ah~ what do we got here?" Hancock stood her ground, glaring him down, "For the record, I do not like you." She spoke bluntly, Luffy nearly pulling a muscle gasping at her statement.

"Yeah? Well, I don' really want you on my ship." Law returned the coy remark with one of his own, Hancock snarled, smoke was already starting up again around, Luffy let loose a groan, catching both of their attention as he stepped in between them, "Hey! None of this! She's coming with us, Law!" he barked at the doctor, then whipping his head towards the snake princess, he hissed, "And she's going to be keeping to herself, right?" Both spirits looked at one another and then at the monkey in between them. Law was the first to drop his machismo and tend to his own supplies, whereas the princess broke eye contact with Law, but stared Luffy down a good moment longer before walking away.

Luffy summed up a quick prayer to his brothers in his heart, asking for their courage and heart for this endeavor. One of the men who crowded around Hancock actually made his way up to Luffy, presenting him with a small bag. "For you." The man insisted, causing Luffy to look skeptical, "What's this for?" The man seemed surprised for Luffy's distrust, having to quickly stammer up an excuse, "W-well s-… we just thought you might need some clothes for the journey. Please accept this gift!" Luffy looked over the clothes. Didn't look much different than the threads he had on now. Same type of pants, the shirts were the bulk of the difference, different length sleeves, different colors some of them… It was a pretty poor attempt he noted, but he didn't have the heart to tell _these men_ that he didn't really have any need to change his clothes.

As the man nodded his thanks to Luffy, he gathered his friends and took leave of Hancock and the area. Luffy sighed wearily, taking his new pack of belongings up over his shoulder and grumpily waiting for Law to re-emerge from his office. It felt like forever before the spirit came out of his office again, and it didn't look like he brought out much more than he had before. "The rest of my crew's this way." Law stated, motioning for both Luffy and Hancock to follow. Luffy strode to walk alongside Law, "You have a crew? Are you a pirate or something?" he chuckled at the end of his joke, but he was met with Law's usual serious stare. Luffy gasped, "Wait! You're a pirate-!" he wanted to add "too" as in reference of Hancock's sea-voyaging, but he didn't want to acknowledge it. Was everyone he was fated to meet supposed to be a pirate? Did he miss some great call to the sea? Like, he couldn't swim, so he didn't really understand why anyone would want to go. Law's voice pulled Luffy from his musing, "Did you not want to use my ship anymore?" Luffy shook his head, "No! Please help me get home! I can't take this anymore!" Law managed what sounded like a small chuckle.

They came to a line of ships along one part of the Archipelago, one of the various docks where many of the ships Luffy couldn't use or steal earlier were. They walked the line of ships until they came to one odd colored one, with large, curved sides that seemed made entirely of metal. The deck almost seemed smaller than that of the other ships, of course, there were other differences that seemed more obvious upon first glance. "This… is a ship? "Luffy questioned, making note that all the pirates and seafaring warriors he'd met so far also seemed to keep very odd-looking ships. "Yeah, this is my ship: The Polar Tang. Be kind to her." Luffy nodded, still obviously confused, but as long as it ran he wasn't too upset.

As they approached closer, they met with some of Law's crew. A mixture of yokai and humans alike, all of whom treated him like a family member who'd been away on vacation. One in particular, a medium-sized onikuma with a ridiculous looking orange jumpsuit on. He was very non-responsive to either Luffy or Hancock's presence, but seemed all concerned about Law. They asked him a whole slew of questions before he assumed command and told them that they'd be heading out with two extra passengers. He didn't introduce them, but with everyone's eyes on them, Luffy at least decided to give a small wave.

Law instructed both of them that his onikuma would be leading them to their rooms and slinked away into the confines of the ship to prepare to leave. Unlike Law's attitude earlier, the rest of his crew seemed absolutely smitten with Hancock, and they at least seemed to carry better conversations with Luffy, except the bear. He was actually kind of shy. They were accompanied all they way to their rooms by their new sea-faring companions, up until they got there.

"Come the fuck on!" Luffy groaned, watching as Hancock had some of the poor pirates move her stuff into the one room they'd been informed they would be sharing. "So sorry!" the onikuma practically pleaded in response to Luffy's outburst, "We don't actually have a lot of room for people to sleep in here! Unless you want a body bag, I'm so sorry!" Luffy sneered, leaning away from the bear yokai, "It's fine…I mean, it's not, but it is." That only seemed to make the oni even more upset. Luffy couldn't do much about it, so he just left it alone. Hancock remarked that he was "giving her a headache with his yowling" so the other men from the ship made him go somewhere else. Luffy sighed. He was going to ask Hancock if this arrangement was really alright with her, but he remembered his promise and just casually threw his stuff into the new room.

It wasn't really much. Apparently, it was actually just an extra recreational room, so it had, like two couches and a table, and that was about it. The men were telling Hancock that they'd bring her whatever she wanted to make it more comfortable. And while they didn't extend the same kindness to Luffy, he thought it was just better to assume they did. The men couldn't stay long, mostly because Law began to call them for work. He seemed to be a very serious man when it came to being a pirate, not at all like the almost lethargic approach he had to his doctor's office. Luffy sighed, _Two sides to a coin, I guess…_

The men had ordered (well, they actually just asked Hancock) to stay in the room for a minute while they prepared take-off. Luffy kicked back on the couch he'd chosen for himself. Hancock just sat near their little table. The silence became deafening very quickly. Luffy sighed, raising an eyebrow, and without thinking he spoke aloud, "I wonder if I can turn back in here?" he immediately sat up, convinced that if even for a second Hancock thought he was talking to her that she'd jump out of the closest porthole into the ocean below. She wasn't paying any attention at first, but when she caught him waiting for her to do something, she just shrugged and looked into the table. Luffy decided against it for now. He didn't really see any reason to change into a smaller form at the moment.

Law called for them only a few moments later. And while they weren't allowed to really go anywhere, he went and found them in their little makeshift room. To Luffy, he updated him on their progress. "We should be headin' out soon, what's our course of action?" The monkey stood up from his couch altogether, "You expect me to know?" Law smirked somewhat, "I'm just a glorified ride as of now." Luffy groaned, "Well then I at least want to eat after this!" Law nodded, "Of course, 'll get someone to bring you some food." Luffy sent him a puzzled look, "Can't have you runnin' 'round my ship." The pirate captain responded levelly.

"Well, which is closer? We need to head to both Amazon Lily and Windmill Village in East Blue." Even as he said it, Luffy saw the surprise on the corpse doctor's face. Oddly enough, the surprise wasn't for what he expected, "You expect me to take my ship out to the Calm Belt? We'd never make it close enough to the island…" Law sent a suspicious look in Hancock's direction that seemed to scream, _I knew I shouldn't trust you_. Luffy, ignoring this, nodded, "Yeah, that's where she's from. "Sure…Okay. Any sort of assurance that we won't die when we get there."

This was for Hancock to answer, and Luffy mentally gritted his teeth when he saw the woman sported her causal bitch-face for Law, "…You should be fine." She uttered, looking back at the table. Luffy nodded, managing a nervous smile. How did he still end up as a baby-sitter to the spoiled princess? Not that Law was helping much. "Will we be alright going to East Blue?" he asked, hoping that he surprised had only been meant for their first destination. "Huh… Oh, yeah. 's far away as all hell, but it can be done." Luffy didn't even want to know how far away it was. He just wasn't ready for that. "So then, what's our course, Law?" The captain doctor responded lethargically, "…Most likely Amazon Lily, then straight on towards East Blue and… Windmill Village, you said it was? 'll tell my men."

As soon as Law left, Luffy took a what he'd mostly likely call a superstitious minute. He wasn't a superstitious man, but too much had gone wrong very recently in his life for him to risk a chance. He knocked on the hardwood flooring of the room, sat cross-legged on the floor to send another prayer for guidance to his brothers, and then circled his couch-bed twice in a counter-clockwise motion. Luffy didn't even care that Hancock was watching him like he'd gone mad. He was going to do everything in his power to ensure that this voyage went well. Or he would _literally_ consider dying first.

His strange new task complete, Luffy felt so much more willing to relax for a moment. It took a very long time for anyone involved with Law's crew to come back and talk with them. Once again, by "them", this meant Hancock. Sure, they were generally addressing the room, but he could see it in the fact that they wouldn't even look in his direction. "We'll be bringing food shortly." The young man spoke, practically shaking in his boots with excitement. Luffy grumbled loudly, attempting to gain attention, and when that didn't work, he loudly exclaimed, "Thanks!" with no real gratitude in his voice. Which was fine with their guest, seeing as he wasn't giving Luffy any attention anyway.


	12. Chapter 12: Trial of Hard Knocks

The food was brought in, quite a little feast to be sure. That little bear oni even came back in to make sure it was alright with them. "J-just wanting to make sure everything to your liking." The bear stammered out. Luffy watched as its head dipped, already expecting some sort of sassy remark. He was not disappointed (sort of) when Hancock granted his request, "I won't be eating any of this." Her voice was as cold and dry as ever.

"Really?" Luffy spoke up, keeping in mind to avoid eye contact. But there was no doubt that his question was for her. The bear sighed depressingly, "O-of course…" he almost motioned for the food to be taken back, but Luffy immediately grabbed the carts the food had been rolled in on. "Hold up a minute! I'll eat it!"

"Y-you will?!" The bear seemed genuinely surprised that Luffy and Hancock didn't share an opinion. When Luffy eagerly reinforced his choice, the men took their leave. Luffy sighed exasperatedly. Quickly, he made a plate for the silent princess, placing on the table in front of her before going back to his own meal. "I'm not going to eat this." Hancock stated, Luffy growled, ignoring her as he tore into any number of the dishes in front of him. Out of the corner of his eye, he glared the princess down as best as he could. "I'm serious." Hancock continued, giving the food a worrying look.

Luffy wasn't sure how to talk to her right now. They'd kind of made a deal that he wouldn't. And maybe he could get away with it while there was a group of people around, but not when there was just too of them.

As if talking to himself through bites, Luffy mumbled, "You gotta eat." From his same vantage point, he saw the princess look at him, _Now she's wondering if I'm talking to her?_ He thought, he nudged his head towards his own plate, simulating what she should be doing. Hancock just at him, confused, for a few more moments, before looking back at her plate worried. "'s not poisoned." The voice of the captain to this ship sounded like thunder across a quiet sky. Hancock immediately shot him a dangerous scowl. Luffy was a bit more optimistic. "What are you doing here, Law?"

The doctor held his hands up like he was calming an excitable crowd. "I'm just doing what I need to." As he said this, he moved closer to Hancock, the princess inching out of her seat in response.

"Now, I may not like you, but you're a patient and you've got some bad wounds." Law very calming, gesturing with his hands the calming intent behind his actions. It was like watching someone calm down a wounded dog. Mostly because Hancock did stop inching away, but the anger in her eyes was still pretty evident. "Let me check your shoulder, arm, and leg, and 'll be out of your very long hair." He seemed genuine enough to Luffy, but it always seemed like Hancock needed so much more convincing. The princess glared, attempting to straighten out her back to make herself look taller than Law while she sat down. "'ve not got all day, miss." Law still maintained his composure, but you could see the annoyance flash in the windows of his skull.

"Monkey-ya!" Law called, "Tell _your_ girl to stop messin' around! She's hurt!" Luffy put his hands up immediately, trying to distance himself from the situation himself. Hancock was immediately shocked, nearly falling out of her chair. She righted herself immediately, certainly enough to grab Law's arm and pull him around to her side. "D-do your goddamn examination and shut the hell up!" she hissed. Law just smirked. "Thank you kindly." Luffy just sat there and watched, kicking his feet over the arm of the couch and swinging them as Law used one arm to swiftly move Hancock's hair over to the side opposite of her bandaged shoulder. He didn't actually have anywhere else to go.

This apparently did not fly with Hancock, who had realized that Luffy was still there. Even with hair falling in front of her eyes, they burned intensely as she caught his look. " _Do you mind_?" At this question, Luffy looked around, before realizing she was talking directly to him. He shrugged, a confused grin on his face. "Close your eyes, turn around… _Something_." Hancock ordered, she had tightened her grip on Law's arm, restricting any action towards her shoulder. Luffy looked to Law for back-up, but the spirit shook his head in response. He wasn't going to get in the middle of whatever this was. Luffy snorted, giving a deeper shrug to Hancock, _What's the problem?_ He seemed to ask.

"Really?" Hancock seemed caught between a scoff and an outcry, "Just, look over there! It's embarrassing enough that he has to be here!" she gestured to Law.

"Okay, but _he's_ the doctor." Luffy pointed out, eyes widening immediately after. Luffy turned around as the princess had instructed earlier.

He could hear Law laughing behind him. "What?" he growled hoping his annoyance could be felt by his intended target, "Nothin'" Law cheekily said, "…Well, I mean, the look on your face. That was hilarious." Luffy turned his head enough to get a glimpse of the doctor, who was now dealing with Hancock's shoulder, unimpeded. "Was like, _Oh shit!_ Ha~…" Law continued, shaking his head. "I don' know why you were being so quiet, but it had to be worth it for _that_ look." Luffy sneered in response but kept his eye on the doctor and patient nearby, he had nothing else to do, after all.

Law 's humored visage seemed to melt back into a seriousness as he worked. Though he did remark with something of a light tone, "Your scars are already healing themselves up pretty well. Are you a yokai too?" Luffy tilted his head a bit more to see- hear the princess' response, "…yes." Law nodded at this, "Well, that's good, we probably won' need heavier medicine then." This time, it was the princess who nodded, and Luffy noticed that the venomous wall seemed to falter a bit, but only a bit.

"'ll try to hurry up with your arm and leg. I know you don' want me here." Law mused, taking new bandages from a bag he'd brought with him. "…You're right, I don't like you." Hancock retorted, leaning with her normal arm away from the side the doctor worked on. "…But thank you."

"I appreciate your modesty, miss." Law responded, wrapping the wound, "And I don' like you either." At this, Hancock actually smiled, the same smile that Luffy remembered her giving Sonia or Marigold.

Internally, it sort of hurt to remember them. Luffy had to take a minute to clear his mind. They were probably in so much more trouble than before. At first, they were just trying to get him off of their island, and because of it, they'd lost their sister. And she, Luffy noted, was hurt badly. Sometimes he wanted to think, _Oh it's not as bad as some would think…_ but her shoulder looked like a tiger's stripes! _So does her arm,_ Luffy thought watching as the bandages around her forearm were taken away to be replaced. Against her actually skin color, the wounds looked cream-colored, indented slightly… How much skin had been chunked away when she fought to protect both of them?

No, Luffy shook his head, he wasn't going to think about that. She was fine. Scars made people look badass, and she lived, so it was fine. Luffy was taken out of his thoughts as Hancock winced, when he turned, he saw that Law was pouring something over her arm. "Apologies," Law looked like he was wincing himself, "This one is still bleeding pretty bad. Something might have torn while you were moving around." Even through gritted teeth, Hancock still managed to look less angry and more reserved than before, "…I'm okay."

Law looked her over while he inspected the wrapping, "…Uh-huh… Before I check then, tell me: Having you been walkin' around on that bum leg for a while?"

Practically everyone in the room's attention now diverted to the bandaged leg that Law talked about. Luffy could see Hancock attempt to flare up her anger, to no avail. "No!" her voice caught in her throat as Law tightened the bandage around her arm. The doctor knelt down beside her leg, "The more you use it, the longer it will take to heal." Law spelled it out so clearly, and as casual as his tone was, it was obvious he was not digging this escapist nature Hancock had. He looked at the bandage covering her leg with a grimace, then turned to face Luffy. "Come here." Luffy immediately snapped back around, even though he was caught.

He still asked, "Who? Me?"

"Monkey-ya…" Law's voice sounded very serious, almost angry.

Luffy stood up from the couch, making his way over tentatively. And standing beside the kneeling Law. "Hold her legs, right here." Law pointed to right above Hancock's knees. Luffy's tail twitched, unsure if he'd heard Law correctly, "Sorry… what was that?" Law just looked up, his eyes seemed like lanterns glowing and giving off eerie light. "Hold her legs, now." He repeated, grabbing one of Luffy's hands, and moving them to where he needed them. "Do not move." Law warned, and Luffy could only tilt his head slightly and ask, "Why?" Instead of answering him, Law grabbed the bandage around Hancock's leg tightly, and began to pull it off.

That was why he needed Luffy, because even though he was only pulling bandage from bandage, Hancock immediately jerked, nearly kicking Luffy in the chest, "Monkey-ya!" Law growled, and Luffy responding quickly, "Sorry! I didn't know what you were doing! -" Again Law didn't warn him either, pulling on the bandage and getting a sensible length of it away. Luffy pushed Hancock's legs down when she tried to buck at either him or Law. "What the hell!" she screamed, her hand gripping and splintering the table where it connected, "That's hurts!"

"And 'm guessin' it hurts more to _walk_!?" Law questioned, earning silence from Hancock almost instantaneously. "Let me do my job, princess." He continued, quieter, revealing the reason behind his anger, "Should have stopped you from stormin' out of my office in the first place. Luffy just stood between them silent, partly because he had no choice, and because apparently, they both knew something that he didn't.

Some part of Luffy lurched forward in disgust when Law had fully unwrapped Hancock's leg. The other part had been successfully holding down Hancock's legs so that she wouldn't kick them because of the pain. And Luffy had to guess that there was a lot of pain. "…What-" he started, only to cut himself off as another wave of nausea hit. Her leg looked like it'd been torn to ribbons. Vertical scars all the way from just below the knee to her foot. And especially large pieces of her ankle were gone, looking like someone had just sectioned it up and taken it away.

It was bleeding pretty badly. Luffy noted, probably because she'd been walking all fucking day- Dammit! Luffy cursed internally. Law just sat there, looking it over, "You shouldn' be walkin' like this." He mumbled, somewhat taken away by the sight himself. "I'm fine." Hancock insisted, her shoulders shaking just a little from the pain of the bandage being removed. "It only started to hurt after you removed the bandage." Luffy almost snapped at her himself, such a blatant lie only made him angry. Instead, he cursed, loudly, "Bullshit! …What the hell do you gain from lying like that?" his voice quivered with anger. He'd only finally managed to tear his eyes away from the damage, focusing instead on the princess' face.

"I need to get something else for this. A splint or somethin'…" Law remarked, pulling himself up to his feet. "Monkey-ya, can you make sure she doesn't move for a minute or two?" Luffy nodded, not breaking from his stare-down. "Okay." When Law left the room, Hancock spoke up, "Could you stop staring at me like I did something wrong?"

"You're bleeding all over the floor." Luffy retorted, "Isn't that wrong?" Hancock sighed, titling her head up to avoid both the question and the look she was being given, "…It's inconvenient." She finally remarked, looking back to Luffy. "Inc-!" Luffy started, exasperated almost immediately, "You might lose your fucking leg! That's a _bit more_ than inconvenient!"

Hancock growled, "You and that zombie doctor seem to be the only ones who care!" she took advantage of the fact that Luffy wasn't allowed to move, and punched him in the chest, not even pushing him back a little, "Why _in the hell_ should I care what you think about me!?"

Luffy huffed, he honestly wanted to hit her back, but she'd probably use that as a chance to escape or something. "Well, _you don't seem to care_. And your sisters aren't here, so someone has to try." Luffy muttered, his gaze falling to where he'd been punched in the chest. Hancock didn't respond, so they fell silent for a moment, before Luffy spoke up again, "You could've said you couldn't walk. Before we left Law's office." Hancock actually laughed, in a cruel and cold way, "And what would you have done? I told you before getting on this _boat_ that I couldn't even think of swimming home."

"I didn't know that meant you were going to lose your freaking leg!" Luffy snapped, calming down when he realized he'd accidentally dug his nails into Hancock's legs. "…Sorry." He muttered. "To be honest, I'm angry with the Hitobashira." Hancock mused, bringing Luffy's attention back to her, "Why? Law didn't do anything. He's a doctor."

"Yeah, so? Because of him, you're sitting here angry at me for something you did." Hancock started, holding up a hand when Luffy started to intervene, "And I didn't want you involved with this." Luffy stopped, standing up straighter a moment, "Why?" Hancock shrugged, making use of her turn to stare down at her leg, "Look at you, you look so upset." Luffy countered, "I'm not-!"

"This isn't even your fault."

Luffy stopped, fully taking a step away from Hancock for a moment, luckily, she didn't get up and walk away when he did. "I _chose_ to go and save you." Hancock continued, looking up only a few times in her explanation to face Luffy, "I didn't need to. You were a huge pain in my back, and I have quite a few of those, I shouldn've let you be eaten and went on with my life." While she didn't move her legs, she did cross her arms under her chest and lean further back in her chair. "…But I couldn't. You'd already ruined my castle, and my ship, and my room… You don't get to just come in, mess with people's lives, and die. Not like that." She didn't say anything else, pursing her lips and looking to the floor.

Luffy would almost laugh if the pit in his stomach would let him. Like this was all somehow _her_ fault because she wanted him to live. And so many times he'd already written her off as dead. So easily. _Far too easily_. Luffy clutched his stomach, and he heard Hancock say something like, "It is a lot of blood, isn't it?" Close, but that wasn't why he felt sick right now. He moved forward and resumed his earlier position. Luffy looked to Hancock's face making sure she could see him, "It's not your fault that you wanted me to live." He said, adding a weak smile, literally the first that he'd had in front of her. He continued to look now at his hands.

~ _Dragon Empress_ ~

What in the hell was that? Even if he wasn't paying attention now, the attention he paid in the past few minutes… _My leg hurts, let's focus on that for now…_ Hancock attempted to remind herself. Even still she could barely do that. She knew she couldn't outright ask Luffy to back away at least ten- no, twenty feet and stay there. But she desperately wanted to try. She was more upset that they hadn't gotten into another argument. _You don't smile for an argument. Well, not like he just smiled._ That smile was more for losing an argument. Which he had not done beforehand. Now he was just going to act strange…

Hancock winced, leaning sideways onto the table beside her, "Are you okay?" she heard Luffy in front of her, and shook her head no, "Yeah, I'm fine. I already said that." She murmured, sparing a glance in his direction. Concern just peppered into his usual features: Great. She liked better when he was angry. She liked herself better when he was angry at her. All this being a roundabout way of saying she didn't like herself right now in particular. She prayed for the doctor to walk back in and wondered what took him so long. He had a whole mass of supplies right there on the ground. And they weren't overly bloodied or ruined.

When she glanced down, she saw her bandages, and winced again, in spite of herself. They looked horrible. Enough blood on them to become skin itself. She looked away, knowing fully well that she couldn't lie to anyone about the pain she was in if she kept looking at it. The princess grumbled incoherently under her breath, settling her gaze on the monkey in front of her. Technically, monkey man, but she wasn't in a part of her consciousness where she could accept that as a fact in front of her. He looked… well he wasn't smiling currently if that helped summarize anything about his emotional state. He almost looked genuinely upset. She guessed the smell of blood was getting to him. She wasn't sure, however, that if she told him to leave that he would listen to her.

She was aware that she couldn't boss him around anymore. Not because she wasn't in any sort of condition to boss or order him around, and not because he was too headstrong or unafraid to disobey her… Like, what was the point now to continue acting like she owned him? That is not how you say goodbye to someone. Her stomach tightened for a moment, causing her to stir slightly, "Don't move." Luffy's voice was calm, but not cold. She stared at the top of his head for a moment. Apparently, he could order her around though, and she always seemed to do what he said. _That,_ she would be glad about ending when he was gone. Her stomach tightened again. Hancock wondered if she was hungry, but she already knew she couldn't eat.

Yes: _couldn't_ not wouldn't. She hadn't eaten for three days almost. Every single time she tried, she ended up refusing and letting the food go to waste. She didn't even know why. And she wasn't going to ask, give Luffy here the chance to be a smartass about the food she wasted earlier. Even if it would give them something to talk about.

"Where is that doctor, anyway…?" she mused, rubbing her eyes for a moment as the stale silence began to get to her, "Does your leg hurt- Or is it starting to hurt worse?" Luffy practically tripped over himself figuratively, "No!" Hancock sat up straight, voice rising half fan octave in response, "Ah- no. I'm still fine." She responded, the tenor coming back into her tone gradually. "…He's just taking forever."

"He said he needed a splint for your leg." Luffy responded, still looking at his own hands, "He might need to get a lot of stuff for that." Hancock snorted, "What about the stuff he has here. Can't he use any of this?" She watched as Luffy's head tilted in the direction of the medicinal bag that the doctor had brought with him. "I'm not sure." He said, confusion in his voice evident. Both of them just looked at the medical bag for a moment. "At least, the bleeding has really slowed down now." Hancock commented, looking towards her legs. Luffy downed down himself, "Yeah… It looks like it anyway."

The awkward conversation was gladly interrupted with the return of the doctor, who was carrying a few more things with him. Luffy was right, she noted sourly, it looked like a lot of stuff. The doctor's voice sounded out, "You'll have to excuse me," even struggling with handfuls of equipment, he still managed to sound disinterested, "Had to get a few things." She couldn't help but focus on his voice, it sounded like he was missing a tooth. He laid down the new equipment and among them, Hancock recognized the tools needed for grafting skin.

The hitobashira walked up to where Hancock was sitting and motioned for Luffy to get out of the way. "You'll have to excuse my sayin' this, but I figured you were a yokai beforehand. A dragon," he gave a knowing look that Hancock didn't understand to Luffy, who only shrunk back in response.

"And this should help with the wounds that reach to your bones and muscle tissue. You will be needin' stitches though. And the graft is for-" Hancock interrupted the doctor with a low snarl, "I know what the graft is for." A pleasantly surprised visage graced the doctor, who ended up nodding. Luffy spoke up from where he stood, "…What's the graft for?" Hancock sighed, looking to the doctor and hoping he could explain it in a delicate manner.

"She's lost… a lot of blood and tissue. The graft should make up for that." Law said, carefully moving Hancock's leg so that he could see it better. "The graft is…something to replace her skin so that it can heal properly." Yeah, it didn't sound bad if one had ever heard anything like this before, but if you hadn't… well, to be honest it sounded pretty fucking bad. Luffy's face at the moment could only be described as a mixture of disgust and fear. She wasn't sure exactly which part in this overall horrific situation could be claimed by the two-part emotion, but she was giving a general assumption in that case.

The doctor, unlike Hancock herself, wasn't concerned with whatever Luffy was doing, instead, he'd gone about the process of grafting Hancock's leg. She wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know how or where the doctor had gotten the… materials for a graft. It wasn't something that people just had lying around. Then again, this was apparently his ship. If he had materials to replace people's skin, organs, and whatever else that was his business. She caught a glimpse of what the good doctor was working with, subconsciously, her shoulders began to itch just looking at it. The doctor noticed her discomfort, though she wasn't sure how, she held herself together pretty well in most cases. "It took me a while to find someone as pale as you, but I did. It shouldn't look too out of place."

To be honest, Hancock- she _was_ concerned about how the graft would look. But, she was more concerned with how sore she would be after the graft, and the stitches that he mentioned earlier as well. That had to hurt as well. Couldn't hurt more than she was already feeling, but… "Thank you." She decided to say, pointedly and concise. The doctor acknowledged her with a short nod. Hancock was going to spend her time ignoring the impromptu surgery going on not even two feet away from her, her new favorite pastime was watching Luffy's expressions. Even though she wasn't personally watching her own surgery in real-time, Luffy was, and the faces he was making were priceless.

Especially when the doctor, his name was… Lou, maybe? When he was setting the skin graft. Luffy's eyes widened in pure shock, horrified was the term she'd been looking for earlier. Pure horror set across Luffy's face. He clenched his stomach and began to look at the floor again. Hancock's pursed her lips immediately, the smallest flash of anger in her features. _Yes this is probably very gross, if I have to be honest… She_ wasn't angry at any outside party in this case. She was a god-damn princess, it was a miracle that her wounds hadn't been fatal to begin with. Like, how many times was she going to conquer death in her lifetime?

She kept getting dangerously close to it. She realized that earlier se was blaming Luffy for a lot of this, and while he was a fault for some of the recent changes in her life, personally she didn't think he was responsible for this particular one. Hell, from what she could see, she'd managed to get him hurt anyway. Something about rampaging through the forest?

And yet, he was the one who looked so…personally affected right now? That was probably not the right word for it. But he looked upset, she wasn't sure that was the right term for it either, but that's what she settled on. She actually wanted to clear up some… things. She wanted to talk to Luffy later, without some random doctor present. She wanted to know a few things before they couldn't speak to each other anymore… Her stomach felt like it twisted into a pretzel. So surprising was the pain, that she actually cried out, "Fuck!" The doctor looked up at her immediately, unfortunately, her timing was a bit off. The doctor had just bandaged the graft for safety and had begun stitching up some of the other wounds.

"Are you okay?!" both men in the room exclaimed loudly, with differing levels of concern.

"…I-I'm fine." Hancock responded quietly, slipping her head into her hands for cover. If they couldn't see her behind her hands, she could be spared explaining herself, is what she figured. She could feel them staring straight at her. "Are you sure?" Luffy's concerned voice came through her carefully crafted barrier like a knife. "Yes." Hancock mumbled. She might not have actually looked like she was alright, but she was probably just hungry. She moved her hands away from her face slightly, inspecting the room. She could feel the doctor continuing with stitches, and Luffy had gone back to his quietness, though he was keeping a closer eye on the surgery instead just looking at his hands.

"'m finished with the stitches and the graft." The doctor stated, pulling himself up to his full height. "'ll have some of the men bring you two something to eat, and I can get you some medicine if the stitches or graft hurt you." Hancock nodded, folding her new bandaged leg behind the other as she fixed herself more comfortably in her chair. Luffy take Law's standing position as the doctor gathered his things and headed out.

Absent-mindedly, Hancock waited for him to lose the door behind him before asking aloud, "What was his name?" Luffy turned to her, "Really? That was Law… do you need to rest or something?" The princess turned to face him, "What? Luffy I didn't know his name to begin with."

"I had to have said it, at least once, right?" Luffy asked, pulling up a chair to sit a few feet away from Hancock. When she shook her head no, he shrugged in response, "Oh well then. Yeah, that's Law."

Before they could continue their favorite game of _Sit and Stare_ , Hancock started to clear her throat to speak, "Ah~" She wasn't quite sure what she wanted to talk about though. Her mind filled in the gaps with the most basic of questions to pad the time until she could remember, "Are you okay?" Luffy tilted his head, "Yes...Why?" Immediately she'd tried to shrug her inquiry away, believing that it was a bad time to talk, but her mind continued to fill in sentences for her to speak, "…Y-your stomach." She stammered on, "…I was just in surgery, and y-you keep holding your stomach like you've got to hold yourself together."

Luffy looked down to his stomach, noting that even as she said it, his hands were clenching to the fabric of his top. "Oh… Well, maybe I do need to hold myself together." He murmured, removing his hand and placing it at his sides, "I'm just hungry!" he explained louder, like the volume of the voice was equal to how much Hancock would believe him. "How do you find the will to eat after a horror show like that?" Hancock questioned jokingly, but she could see that Luffy caught the seriousness in her tone. "If you don't eat, it's not like it would hurt your situation." Luffy stated, though the princess wasn't sure whether he was giving advice or relaying his own experience. "It's not like it helps though." She countered.

"You know," Luffy started, crossing his legs up under himself in his chair, "I don't think I've ever seen you eat food. Is that a dragon thing? Hancock sent him a glare, "A dragon thing? That's a little…" she motioned her hand in a shaky so-so motion, "I know, I know." Luffy held his hands up in defense of himself. He actually smiled again, but like the only other one Hancock had seen, it vanished just as soon as she noticed it. "I didn't mean to offend." Luffy joked. Then, he moved his chair so that he could lean against the table. "But seriously, you need to eat more." Hancock had to be sure that she was frowning, but she only confirmed her suspicion when Luffy returned her frown with one of his own.

"You've probably lost a lot of blood, and you're not replacing it with anything!" Luffy exclaimed, with only concern in his voice, and even still Hancock pouted. "True, but that doesn't mean I need to eat something." Luffy snorted, laying his head on the table. "Don't argue with me on this. You need to eat. It's probably been days now. _Plus_ , I'm gonna feel bad if I keep eating and you just sit there watching." Hancock grumbled, despite the fact that he was right. "You can't just preach to me, I'm not a child." Luffy nodded, as much as he could still with his head on the table.

"…They will being us food soon, though. You heard the doctor-" Hancock started, being cut off by Luffy's muffled voice, "Law. His name is Law." She looked at his head unmoving for a moment, "I guess. You heard him, he's going to bring you food in a bit. Why should I remember his name so badly?" Hancock could feel that her annoyance wasn't being masked very well.

"Because, he's doing a lot for me, helping me get home. And helping you get back to your island. It's part of being nice, Hancock." Luffy snapped back making Hancock roll her eyes, "I guess, but it seems sort of pointless to remember the name of a man I'll only see for a small amount of time. I'm going to be going home soon, you know." Luffy turned his head, not moving it from the table, but so he could see Hancock's face better, "You remember my name though."

"That's _different_ ," Hancock started to say with a laugh, "I thought you were staying-" The silence that followed that sentence filled the air quickly. Hancock could see whatever humor in Luffy's face fell and crashed to the floor. She didn't exactly do herself any favors either, feeling her heart drop to her stomach. "Never mind." She muttered, casting her gaze to the floor. Luffy didn't seem as interested in letting the manner drop. "Are you still upset?" Hancock looked up at him, "… I'm not. I promise." Luffy's eyes widened, and for a moment, she thought she's said the wrong thing. "Promise! Shit, I was supposed to be leaving you alone!"

"No!" Hancock actually managed to surprise both of them with how loud she spoke. "I-I mean, no. Don't worry about that. That was before we found out we'd be sharing a room." Again, the floor became the object of Hancock's attention. She had to admit to herself, she would probably have forced him to break that promise anyway. Luffy sat up in his chair. "Alright then. Well good, 'cause if we're not allowed to go anywhere, _and_ you weren't going to talk to me, this would've been a really boring trip."

"I was under the impression that you didn't like me." Hancock mused, more for herself than any response from Luffy. The monkey boy chuckled aloud, another first, "Sorry for that, then."


	13. Chapter 13: Closed Doors

Ace was unsure how long their traveling had been and how far it had taken them since the sinking ship. He'd been keeping Sabo in the air on morale alone. Sometimes Ace would have to remind his brother to keep his strength up and to rest properly. He knew they were both beginning to feel the toll this was taking. It was the equivalent of having to hold someone up by the seat of his pants. Obviously, Ace would feel personally responsible, he felt like he'd forced the guy to think the worst of their situation. Ace only wished he'd known to keep his mouth shut back then. "We should take a quick break, Sabo!" he called over the still air, his golden brother giving a listless nod and beginning to descend aimlessly. Ace followed quickly behind.

The dragons came to rest among a small gathering of trees. "If you want," Ace offered with a small grin, "I can go into town and see if anyone's seen hide or hair of Luffy." He watched for Sabo's opinion, the fiery dragon jumping back when the other immediately sprung to action. "I can go too!" Sabo nearly shouted, and almost entirely too fast, as he began to choke on his own words. Ace attempted to help but was stopped by Sabo holding out a claw. "I-I'm fine! We should go toget-her…L-less suspicious." Ace nodded, the few times that Sabo would buck up where when they felt like they were getting somewhere. And it would be less suspicious to go around saying that they were looking for their brother. Especially if they didn't look like large, fantastical lizards with fiery breath. Ace sighed somewhat, settling on his haunches while Sabo got himself together. "We can also use this as an excuse to eat something." Ace added, a mixture of hope and an order. "We've got a bit of money left from what Dadan gave us."

"Thought we were saving that for Luffy and getting him something to eat?" Sabo spoke up, stretching out like a cat as his transformation activated. Ace noted that it was far more obvious of how tired they looked in those smaller forms. "Yeah, we'll save some of it for him. He'd hate us if we didn't eat properly." Ace retorted casually, stretching his backout as he began to stretch -or shrink- rather into his human form. Ace sighed, his medium length, curly hair had gotten a bit longer during their travels and had begun to rest on his shoulders. He could see a terrible sunburn on his arms making freckles stand out like watermelon seeds. Sabo walked over to him in a slow gaunt, and Ace could wince to see the state they were in. "Let's go. If you're coming with me, then you're asking questions, I don't want to deal with that if I don't have to."

"Right" Sabo droned out, beginning to march in-line behind Ace as he made his way to the town right outside of the current mesh of trees. The brothers broke through the barrier of trees that surrounded them, met with a small fishing town, a few ships, most of them were navy though, and some of them were grand and extensive, but not quite pirate-esque or anything Luffy would associate himself with. "We could check towards the docks." Ace sounded out, pointing out where the ships were furthest from where they currently stood. Sabo shrugged, "There seems to be the hustle of a market place in that area." Sabo countered, motioning to a spot closer to them, "Luffy might have been drawn to the food."

"True. That brother of ours sure can eat." Ace mused, grabbing hold of Sabo's shoulder so he didn't dawdle when they were going through the market. He didn't need to lose both brothers to massive crowds of humans.

As they made their way, Ace turned to Sabo, who inspected every single rock, tree, light and sound they passed. "Hey. It's going to be alright, Sabo." Ace reassured him, "Even if we can't find Luffy, he will definitely make himself known if he catches sight of us." Sabo looked his brother dead in the eyes, Ace could see the golden glow behind the guise of his dark-colored eyes. Like looking through a glass marble. "…You're right."

The town was busier than it had looked from a distance, oddly enough. People were pushy to be sure, but none were as pushy as Ace. The fiery brother did well in making enemies in only a few short moments. "Would you stop?" Sabo hissed, having grabbed onto Ace's arm so as not to lose him while he barreled through crowds. Ace wouldn't though, because he could see peaks of Sabo's old self when the golden brother yelled at him. If the only price he had to pay for Sabo to return to his mantle of "level-headed brother", then he would pay it one thousand times over. He couldn't do this search on his own, and he knew better.

They would question shopkeepers, mostly because they expected Luffy to steal something, and who better to keep an eye out for thieving monkeys than the shopkeepers and traders themselves. This involved a lot of anger on the part of the many, many, many customers waiting in line who were passed as Ace dragged Sabo to the front of the line to question. And also involved a hyper embarrassed Sabo as he was forced to stammer out the same question over and over as people yelled at him behind his head. Some people threw things, but Ace would block it, and Sabo would be forced to drag him away.

Their interrogations aside, they still found no answers, and were currently eating outside of a small shop to get their strength back. Sabo seemed to have much of the old fire behind his eyes at this point, objectively scanning the area, not for a face, but for ideas. _Mission: Success!_ Ace thought happily, leaning back a bit on his seat to better enjoy his meal. "Ace!" Sabo called, "We can go try out the docks next! Maybe some surly sailors would recognize a rambunctious monkey boy…" Ace nodded knowingly, beginning to hop up from his seat, only to be pushed back down. "Take a look at this little _punk_!"

~ _Monkey Boy_ ~

Luffy was sitting up on the couch in his impromptu room. A full day had passed, maybe a day and a half. It was very hard to tell inside a ship with so very few windows. It had been a while, he knew that much for sure, they'd eaten (or at least, he had) almost four or five times at this point. And Law had come to check in on them multiple times now. From Luffy's point of view, Hancock hadn't moved since earlier. Granted, he'd never asked if she needed to. He figured it wasn't entirely his job. He'd actually not said a word since the whole surgery. What could he say about it, he tried to make light-hearted jokes, make conversation as much he could. But in the end, Hancock had gone back to her quiet state.

Luffy sighed, he didn't really have any other reason to sit around, and he'd been antsy enough to move… he just didn't have anywhere to go. "Hey! Are you doing alright?" Hancock jolted up immediately, turning to Luffy. "!...What?"

Luffy tilted his head. "Were you asleep just now?" The empress didn't answer him, but the semi-dazed look on her face gave him the answer he needed. Luffy snorted humorously, jumping up from the couch and dusting himself off. "Well," he continued, "I'm going for a walk." The monkey boy began to make his way to the door.

"Really?" Hancock's voice sounded, causing Luffy stop in his tracks. "You're seriously just going to walk around some strange guy's ship?" The princess was as angry as he thought she'd be, more concerned over all. Even as he confirmed her suspicions, he was surprised to see that annoyance hadn't yet won out over a deepening concern. "If he gets upset, and throws you off of this ship, how will you get home?" she questioned, once again managing to stop Luffy before he could leave. He was really starting to regret that they were talking to each other again. With another snort, Luffy turned to face the princess once again. "I won't get caught. Or are you going to snitch on me?"

Hancock looked wholly offended, almost causing Luffy to burst into laughter as her face turned red and steam rose from her shoulders. "No! I'm not gonna- How childish are you?!" Luffy waved her away, actually opening the door this time, and was (gratefully) met with an empty, semi-lit hallway. He chided, "Well thanks! Stay here then! Maybe get some sleep in too!" On his last note, Luffy was once again forced to hold in his wild laughter as Hancock embarrassment deepened.

The princess huffed, loud enough that Luffy could hear it behind him, "I don't just want to stay in here! Wait for the creepy doctor to get back and scold _me_ for _your_ absence! Hell no!" Luffy was just going to ignore it, he wanted to see what it looked like up on the deck of the ship. But, his eats caught wind of the unmistakable sound of a stupid injured person attempting stupid things. He knew the sound anywhere, he was actually very stupid himself, in case anyone was wondering. Luffy rolled his eyes as he turned around, nearly making himself very dizzy in the process, but when the small bout of vertigo passed, he could see that Hancock was in fact attempting to get up from her chair and struggling.

Law had actually gone through quite a bit to make sure that her recovery was going well before they brought her back to her island. They were supposed to be back at Amazon Lily in almost two days, now. The doctor had brought Hancock a multitude of blankets, pillows, whatever they could spare really. Her couch-bed had been set up with these new fixing to elevate her more severely injured leg, and to comfort her broken arm and shoulder. In the process of getting up, she had knocked most of this over, and almost slipped on the various blankets.

"Are you serious?" Luffy groaned, waiting for Hancock to meet his gaze before continuing on, "You're supposed to be resting until we get you home!" He tried not to bark, but the mental image of her slipping on any of the things around her and making a bad wound worse… It made him a bit too anxious. Hancock was sitting on her good knee, using her good hand to prop against the couch so that she wouldn't slide on anything. "No one said I had to rest!" she countered, though her embarrassment was hindering her confidence enough for Luffy to pole holes in her statement.

"Law literally told you to rest. And had told you to rest every time he's come in here." Luffy stated with a sigh, "Besides, you're tired. And I _know_ you are! You need to rest." Luffy rolled his eyes at the same time Hancock could be heard scoffing.

"I'm not tired!" she protested, seeming to ignore the half-objective, half-annoyed stance Luffy was in. He just pointed out that she was practically sprawled on the floor in front of him. "You literally almost fell asleep like a minute ago." Luffy said, matter-of-factly. Again, this earned a scoff from the princess. "I was just _closing_ my eyes!" she argued, literally pouting at this point.

Luffy rubbed his eyes for a moment, laughing under his breath. "You're already tired." He smiled. For some reason, Hancock took his humor in this situation as an insult, becoming more flustered. "…I fucking hate you." She hissed after calming down a little. Luffy leaned against the open doorway in response. "Fine. You can come. Get up."

Again, Hancock became flustered, maybe even more than before. "!" Luffy had to cover his mouth. It was cruel, he knew that she was in no position to be up and about. He was just hoping makeshift surgery would have made her more agreeable. Apparently, he was wrong. Hancock sat on the ground for a more, eyes darting back and forth, trying to figure out how she was going to get up, let alone walk over to where Luffy was.

"I fucking hate you." She repeated, her voice somewhere between a whisper and a growl. Luffy just shrugged. "If you can't get up, I'm leaving you behind." He taunted, beginning to leave the room once again. This was the funniest break-out scheme he'd had since he'd left his brothers. He nearly bit his tongue trying not to laugh as Hancock seemed even more panicked to get up. "Stop," Luffy said, turning around and walking back into the room. "You're gonna hurt yourself." His worrying still kicked in, as funny as this all was.

He stood beside where Hancock was, and immediately knelt down, "Give me your arm." He ordered, holding out his own arm as leverage. Hancock sent him a puzzled look, but complied, he know had his arm wrapped under her one good arm. "Alrighty!" he smiled, mentally preparing himself to stand back up. _Lift with the knees, Luffy!_ Soon enough they were standing, sort of. Luffy was hoisting Hancock up, but of course, she only had one leg to stand on. So he was both holding her up under her good arm and supporting most (if not all) of her weight on his side.

Brave-faced, Luffy looked up at Hancock. "A-alrighty… I'm going to walk now. You have to walk with me if you don't want to stay in here…" he managed to stutter out. He felt like Hancock was purposefully being dead weight to teach him a lesson. She wasn't even looking at him right now. Granted, he probably wouldn't like being carried like this either. In retrospect, it was probably really embarrassing, now that he was thinking about it.

"Y-you're going to let me walk around with you, now?" Hancock was stuttering too. Yep, totally embarrassed. Now Luffy felt kind of bad, but he knew that if he'd just left her there, she'd just try to follow him. If someone's going to be stupid and detrimental to their own health, you never let them do it alone. That's what he was taught. He said as much too.

"You'd probably try walking around on your own without my help anyway." He muttered, sarcastically. "Can…can you put any weight on your good leg?" he added, not wanting to flat out accuse her of being fat and ordering her to help him out. She didn't say anything for a minute, but he felt her move to stand on her foot. "…I think so." She responded. And while it wasn't enough to really help, Luffy was appreciative that he didn't have to struggle so much.

They had a few false starts attempting to leave the room. Luffy was surprised that Hancock not only had a longer stride than him but seemed to move faster as well. She'd almost brought them both tumbling down twice with that alone. Luffy managed to instruct their walk a little better after the first few hiccups, with him leading and Hancock taking a sort of hop with every step he made. Like a weird three-legged race. They'd made it into the hall pretty easily. "Alright!" Luffy exclaimed, personally proud of their success.

Heck, if it weren't for the sheer curiosity at this point, he probably would've told Hancock that they were going back into the room. He was bored when he decided to take this walk, and he really wasn't anymore. But it seemed like Hancock was tired of being cooped up.

The best part of their little excursion to the ship's deck was avoiding anyone roaming around the hallways. For Luffy anyway, Hancock always seemed to panic when she thought they would be caught. Luffy could shrug it off no problem. Plus, it helped that he found his own sort of joy being able to avoid well-to-do guards while lugging around an injured snake princess.

During one particular instance of playing hide-and-seek, Luffy didn't see the pirate until he'd begun to turn the corner. He was so surprised, that he immediately, pulled back, whipping around the corner to hide…and pushed Hancock into the wall in the process. He'd forgotten until she yelped, and for a moment, they just sat against the wall, deadly silent.

Sure enough, the man walking that particular intersection of the hall began to question aloud if someone was there. Luckily neither of them said anything, but Luffy's mind raced as he begun to plan how they were going to escape. It was a very familiar kind of trouble for him, to be sure, and his mischievous side began to act up badly. Like it'd been backed up in all of his stress, and for some reason, something in his brain had released. "Hey!" he whispered as loud as he could to get Hancock's attention.

"Get on my back." He offered, the widest smile spreading across his face. He read Hancock's expression as a solid 'No', but he just nodded, saying in addition, "Come on! We're going to run straight past him while he's distracted!" Luffy was practically having a conversation with a reasonable-yet-invisible force as Hancock visibly shook her head, trying her hardest to not make a sound. Luffy smirked, and asked in a hoarse whisper, "So you want to go back to the room?"

Hancock snorted, following it with a huge huff of breath. She finally spoke too, asking in a temperamental and quiet tone, "Am I not _too_ heavy?" _Shoot, might've been too obvious with that one._ Luffy let out a nervous laugh. Both because he'd been caught and because he was just going to hope she wasn't. They moved as quickly and as carefully as possible to get Hancock on his back. For some reason, this was much easier than attempting to let her walk alongside him. Luffy felt stupid for not suggesting this first.

The only downside to the new set up was the amount of black hair that was getting in Luffy's eyes. He felt like a dog. "Ready?" he questioned, but he didn't really get a response. Instead, Hancock remained relatively silent. Without any response, Luffy just assumed it was safe to move forward, firstly slipping off one of his shoes and throwing it as fast as he could right past the pirate. As expected, the guy fell for it. Probably assuming it was a small rodent or something. When the real rodent (basically) ran past him, moving down the hallway in any direction where there weren't people.

Luckily, this led them to a set of stairs, which led them to a pair of heavy doors. "Nice!" Luffy called out, this had to be the way to the deck. He tried to check on Hancock, but he couldn't exactly see her expression past all of her hair. He decided it was better to assume she was as excited as he was.

Now Luffy knew it was only going to become more difficult from here on, seeing as there would probably be more people outside…maybe. Either way, they wanted to go forward, and not back. Without another thought as to maybe someone being right behind the door, Luffy leaned into it with his shoulder, forcing it open with loud creak. Luffy winced as the light poured in from the crack created by opening the door. He was almost thankful for the hair. "God…" he muttered, looking through his opening for anyone around the area before forcing it open enough to get outside.

Outside, it smelled the way it usually does before it begins to rain, but it didn't even look dark outside. Luffy quickly ran quickly, dodging the few people that he could see, and even making it to the gunnel of the upper deck, hiding Hancock and himself behind some boxes. He was glad they were still above the water, seeing as the ship was submergible. Then again, Law said that they wouldn't really have need to go underwater for at least Hancock's drop-off. There wasn't going to be a lot off traffic in that area anyway. But for Luffy's destination, there would be more danger, which meant more time spent inside. And underwater.

Luffy figured that would be cool to see also, but he had kind of a fear of the ocean at the moment. He wouldn't mind staying above it for a little while longer. Luffy crouched down, "You can get off and sit here if you want." He offered, motioning to the ground beside him. She slid off of his back, claiming back most of her hair immediately. She sat only a few inches, away, and immediately found herself preoccupied by the ocean.

She sat a bit taller than Luffy did, so he ad to scoot closer to the gunnel to see the ocean better. They sat in silence, staring at the ocean for a few moments before Hancock spoke up, "Is this what you wanted to do?" she questioned, calling Luffy's attention to her for a second. He tilted his head in confusion, "I figure you'd have enough of the ocean at this point in your life."

Luffy snorted, "It's different, sitting in a small dingy as compared to a legitimate ship like this. Safer." Luffy responded, then turning the inquiry to Hancock, he added, "Haven't you had enough of the ocean at this point?" For a moment, Hancock's face looked solemn, eyes almost darkening in response, "I'm a glutton for punishment." She muttered, barely loud enough for Luffy to hear.

He didn't ask, instead leaning back a bit so that he didn't have to turn fully around to talk with her. "I just wanted to smell the outside." He admitted, believing that his answer to Hancock's original question may pull her from her pessimistic musings. It worked enough, the princess smiled in return to his answer. "That's so stupid!" she chuckled happily. Luffy punched her good shoulder in response.

They sat there for a pretty long time. Luffy was actually surprised that no one had attempted to find them or search the ship for them. Then again, from what little he'd seen and knew of Law… he probably went to check on them, saw they were gone and decided that he didn't have to worry about it anymore. Less for him to worry about, until they got back to their room, that is.

Speaking of, since it had been so long, Luffy decided it was time to head back. He turned to Hancock, about to tell her he thought it'd be best if he just carried her back… She was snoozing, completely asleep. _About damn time…_ he mused, maneuvering to sit on his knees and pick her up.

Luffy'd actually gotten Hancock onto his back, and even started to walk back to his room. He was sneaking back towards the interior of the ship when he heard voices yelling about something. He'd thought for a moment that he was being yelled at for sneaking out and that they'd been caught… but that wasn't the case. He was pretty much caught at this point, well in the line-of-sight of many of the men walking around on deck, but that wasn't why they were yelling. Further inspection showed that they were pointing at something… something in the sky worth catching attention.

Luffy' stomach tightened, as did his grip as he made sure Hancock didn't fall while he found a better vantage point of what was causing all of the fuss. At first, maybe because of the brightness of the sun, he didn't notice it at first. But, the longer he stared, the easier it was to make out. A long, slim figure, more yellow and brighter than the sun, wailing as it trailed through the air.

"No…" the realization hit Luffy almost immediately, it only made the twisting in his stomach all the worse.

"…Sabo?"

~ _Double Dragon_ ~

Ace didn't really appreciate being pushed. This was something Sabo knew for a fact, he saw it as a small challenge every time it happened. Sabo just came to understand that fiery little dragons liked to be challenged. The men who were surrounding Ace had managed to create a small wall between him and Sabo. Whatever they wanted, they didn't feel like Sabo was a part of it.

"You're the guy what's going around and being a real menace?" the large man from before asked, holding his hand out in front of him to push Ace down if he tried to stand again. "I've just been looking for someone." Ace sneered, already dismissing the men and their gripe with him. Sabo winced, this never really worked in their favor. His brother was already getting ballsy.

"Ace, we should really just get going." Sabo insisted, attempting to reach Ace through the small crowd gathered around him. The first man, having been more angered by Ace's answer grabbed the fiery man a beaded necklace that he often had around his neck, lifting him half a foot off of the ground. The man held Ace close enough to his face that the dragon boy shirked back from the heat of his breath almost immediately. "Having fun finding them, then?" the bigger man hissed.

Again, Ace sneered at the men, Sabo was the only one among the group who recognized the bright flames dancing in his eyes. "Seriously! We're sorry, just let my reckless brother go, and we'll be on our way!" The men were either choosing to ignore him or couldn't hear Sabo over their own egos. The golden dragon was pretty sure it was the later, as even Ace was more interested in the point these guys were making. "… _How'd I even get to being in charge again?!_ " Sabo whispered wearily.

In the midst of this argument, Ace had grabbed the shirt of the man holding onto him. "No, but if you want to help-" he snarled, kicking away form the man and throwing himself off, landing right in the spot he stood in before, "-then we're taking information." After delivering this clever one-liner, he looked to Sabo. Probably trying to show how cool he was. Cooler would have just been leaving.

The man Ace freed himself from was doubled over in pain. A dragon kicks a hell of a lot harder than any human, after all. His buddies were riled up in response, circling around Ace now.

"What in the hell is wrong with you?!" one of them shouted, followed by varying agreements from their friends. Ace just rolled his eyes.

"You can't say _I'm_ causing trouble, and then come to beat my face in." Ace stated with a yawn. "You cause as much trouble as I do in that case." Apparently, as foreigners, Ace and Sabo were not allowed to criticize the way they do business. Because pointing this out only proceeded to make everyone angrier. In another attempt to take their losses and move on, Sabo tried talking to Ace:

"We should just go, Ace. We still need to go to the docks!" Sabo called out, already turning to leave the area. And then he stopped, caught in his tracks. Everyone was staring. All sorts of people. Their little show had all the attention. "Oh god…" Sabo muttered. Of course, in a scenario such as this, authorities would be called. Naval authorities. Sabo didn't know whether to turn back to his brother or attempt walking out the door. Neither was going to be very helpful in this instance.

And they were stuck in a small building. With very few ways out. Which in any case, meant that Ace was going to create one…Well, maybe he wouldn't? Maybe he could talk these men down, apologize for their leader and for the market and they could still check if Luffy was at the docks. This hope didn't last very long, as Ace dodged and weaved around punches. Unfortunately he had to ignore pleas of his brother and the owners of the store, if only to defend himself.

There were three dudes left now that he'd sacked their leader. And they just kept coming, no matter how much Ace dodged and weaved, he was going to ask for Sabo's help, but now he didn't feel like he'd need it. Until one of them got a hit in, and a good one at that. In their frustration at their repeated failed attempts to get a hit on Ace, one of these nice gentlemen had taken a chair from the floor. And while his buddies were forcing Ace to stay on defense, he came up behind him, and smashed it against his back.

The dragon went down, and it took every ounce of control he had to conceal the plumes of smoke that threatened to flow from his nose and mouth. But it hurt, and it was a surprise that Ace couldn't let go of without repaying the favor. Never let an insult go without an injury, that was one of his life policies. With a dangerous snarl, Ace rose up quickly, planting a fist into the jaw of the man right beside the one who hit him. His aim was off, but the power behind the punch never faltered. The new target flew into the air with the loudest crack anyone in that area had ever heard. And he was stuck in the ceiling as prove that no one was hallucinating.

That would be the time when the naval officers got involved, rushing into the building to stop a really surprising threat. Sabo turned back to his brother just in time to see the damage. "Ace! We need to go!" He called, running through the men and the impending crowd of frightened and confused patrons. Sabo found space to stand behind his brother. "Seriously, we need to leave!"

"I agree." Ace responded casually, "When did the sea-men get here?" he joked, titling his head in the direction of the officers who were now trying to close them in and help get bystanders out of here. "They've been here!" Sabo responded, smacking Ace in the shoulder. The fiery brother rolled his eyes, "They're blocking our exit, Sabo. I'm going to need to make a new one."

"Lord in heaven, _please don't._ " Sabo retorted, grabbing onto Ace's arm in an attempt to dissuade him from his thoughts. As per usual, Ace wasn't listening, smoke rising from his arms, "Good, glad we agree. I'm going to create a distraction, and you're gonna get us out of here while they're confused." Ace continued with a smile, not even missing a beat.

Sabo wanted to scream, but he hardly had a choice. They were surrounded. And in choosing to not leave Ace behind, they were going to have to do things his way. He could feel his scales bristling on his face as he began to transform back, "Do whatever then!" he called, his voice already distorting into a shrill roar.

"Alright then," Ace chuckled, snapping his fingers and letting loose a train of fire, like a flamethrower to distance between themselves and the officers. All of whom cried out in surprise at the fire-wielding man. Ace only laughed, holding his hand straight up at the ceiling, pointing his hand in the shape of a gun, and firing. Even as the rubble fell around them and onto them, Ace just chuckled. Sabo assumed the boy had finally lost his mind, and with a callous snort, transformed fully into the golden dragon, picked up his brother, and made his way through their new exit.

Even as they took off into the air, Ace laughed. "You get too much of a thrill messing with humans." Sabo commented, hoping Ace would here the shaming nature of his tone. Ace didn't, freeing himself from Sabo's class with a kick flip and landing onto his brother's back. "Don't be so cold, Sabo!" Ace called over the roar of wind on his face. "We can still head to the docks!"

The golden dragon rolled his eyes as best he could, "Thanks. You know how I feel about messing with-" Something caught Sabo's ear before he could finish his sentence, from below them. He looked down and saw way more than a few navy men. In fact, that looked like a small army of navy men. All of them looking to where Sabo had taken off into the air. But the conversation was what worried him.

"A golden dragon!? What the hell!"

"And a guy who just wields fire!"

"That sounds like the description our ships have been giving out for weeks!"

"Hey…! Yeah, the ones from our lost ships!"

"About the golden dragon that was just going around and burning things to ashes."

"Shit! We might need help with this one…"

Sabo nearly stalled right there in the air. They remembered them! From all those ships that Ace took out! Dammit! "Ace we can't check the docks!" Sabo spoke quickly, cutting his brother's whines off before he could interject, "I think they know we've been taking out ships. And I think a lot of those ships weren't just pirates…" Sabo knew Ace probably didn't hear it, their powers were a bit more limited in these human forms, but… the gravity of the situation couldn't be lost on him.

"Shit" Ace finally spoke, "You need to fly up higher, into cloud cover!" Sabo agreed, immediately beginning his ascent, "I can turn back too and-" Sabo shook his head, "Don't you dare!" he roared, "I don't think you being a huge dragon, burning things to the ground will help!" he spat, waiting for Ace to contradict him.

"But!" Ace started, immediately quieting down while he thought out what he would say, "How is it better than they only see you?" Sabo sighed, keeping his eyes on the ground. "If it's just me their focusing on, I'm a larger target. Let's say they shoot me out of the sky-"

"Sabo!" Ace called out, aghast.

"Not literally!" Sabo retorted, "Then you, you can escape while I 'm falling. If you want to can catch me, or you can just leave in your original form. You're already smaller, they might not see you as well." Sabo breath a bit more comfortable when he safely entered into a large collection of clouds. "We need something flexible just in case they have something for us." Luckily, Sabo could still keep an eye on the naval officers, even if he could only make out large collections of shapes from where he was.

Ace finally spoke up again, "I don't like you right now." He growled. This time, it was Sabo's turn to laugh. "Yeah…I know."

Something shot past Ace's head at that exact moment, causing him to stumble backwards and land on his butt. "Shit! What the-!" Sabo looked back towards his brother, "What! What's wrong!" Ace didn't know, he looked over the side. He couldn't see nearly as good as Sabo could, with his special eyes, but he had to figure that whoever shot at them needed to be close enough to see them. And Ace would have to see them first.

Instead, he saw nothing…? That was impossible, the navy had nothing supernatural about them, except for how much they sucked, and Luffy's grandpa. That Ace knew. There was no human that could take aim from the ground at them, not with how far up they were. Ace sat back for a moment, trying to think of a plan. If he just turned back this would be easy… But, at the same time, burning up the sky meant nothing if he couldn't see…

Another shot, this time, swishing past Sabo like a bullet, Ace recognized his brother's cry as it seemed to clip his face. He stood up immediately, crying out "Sabo!" The golden dragon roared, but kept on flying, "Shit! Ace, what was that?" Sabo questioned.

Ace shook his head, "Can you check, I think someone's shooting at us!" Ace waited with bated breath for his brother to say he found something, instead, he could barely make out Sabo shaking his head. "We have to get closer to the ground then!" Ace called, "They're using this cloud cover plan against us!" At first, Ace wasn't sure Sabo would agree, but he felt the smallest twist of relief and fear as Sabo began to descend from the sky.

"Not too much, just enough to-!" Ace was cut off when something to and painful connected to his ears. Instead of finishing his sentence, he screamed, tumbling over the side of Sabo's back and rocketing towards the earth. Sabo immediately dipped down, narrowly missing his brother, and managing to grab him by his necklace. He heard Ace choke when he caught him.

"'m sorry!" Sabo grunted, making his way faster towards the ground so that he could let him go. Whatever was shooting them had found their advantage. Immediately the sky lit up, like there was a storm going on. And Sabo only barely caught what looked to be streaks of light shooting past them. Sabo could feel his neck pop, having to jerk Ace out of harm's way.

For a moment, there seemed to be a break between attacks, which Sabo just enough time to find out who was firing. He saw movement, accompanied by what looked to be another light attack. But, there, just a small movement belonging to a shadow-y figure. That was their opponent. Sabo only had a second to react, tossing Ace into the air just as yet another attack sliced his neck. Not fatal, but surely enough to hurt.

Ace only heard his brother scream, but that was more than enough. He was caught in his own pain, but that was would be nothing compared to what that guy could do to Sabo. Or what Ace could do to this guy. Ace's fiery transformation was ominous against the clouds, which were gathering around the area of their small battle. For one of the few times in his life, Ace was able to see far faster than he would have ever been able to in most any other situations.

His transformation had caught the attention of his opponent. And either Sabo realized that they would need to fight together, or his brother had forgotten his orders for Ace to not transform. "He's right there!" Sabo cried, attempting to holding his new neck wound. The golden dragon pointed out their enemy's position more clearly, and Ace bellowed smoke with a snarl.

Their opponent looked like a dog, except with an extra set of hind legs, and a second tail. Not to mention that from what Ace could see of his face, he had weasel-y features, slit eyes, and the stupidest grin. And it was literally sitting on a lightning bolt. Lightning, that had been what was hitting them! No wonder Ace felt so dizzy, his brain felt like it'd been fried, and he'd only been tagged on his ear. Sabo had gotten caught by his neck. They would need a doctor, but Ace was determined to make sure they weren't the only ones.

"Fucking Asshole!" Ace roared, accompanying his words with an impressive spew of fire. Among the clouds it looked like a wide red light. Their enemy cackled, and the lightning around them echoes its pattern. More shots were fired. Ace and Sabo dodged as best they could. Ace was able to send his foe running in places they could spot him. But he was never fast enough to get a hit in. Only to steer the fight in his line of vision.

"Ace!" Sabo's voice, pained, came from somewhere behind Ace. "We are so outmatched here!" The fiery dragon didn't want to admit it, but his brother was right. Especially Sabo, the boy literally glowed in the dark with his scales…

Ace's eyes widened. The strangest idea came to him, but it made too much since to discount. Did their enemy even know where they were? _Or_ was he just aiming for the glowing yellow dragon? "Sabo!" I've got an idea!" Ace called, whipping around to face said dragon. "You have to leave."

"What?" Sabo questioned, "That's what I said-" He was cut off as they dodged more shots, "No! Not both of us!" Ace growled, taking a moment to fire in the direction the shots came from. "Look! Look at how dark the sky is!" Ace watched his brother's head whip around as he realized that the sky had, in fact, darkened severely since their battle started. And now it was solid enough that they were the only things that stood out against their surroundings. Them and the shots their enemy fired.

"You're too bright!" Ace called, "Get out of here, Sabo! He's aiming for you!" Ace called, sneering as the enemy's laughter sounded throughout the clouds around them. Ace tried to not sound desperate, but it came out as hysterical, "I will cover you while you leave! I'll make sure he doesn't follow you, and then I will be right behind you!"

"How do you know he doesn't have back-up?" Sabo responded, "If he calls another one like him-"

"Then you are _doubly_ screwed!" Ace interrupted with the loudest growl he could muster, it's aiming for a light bulb, and you are the perfect fit!" Sabo looked like was going to argue further, but Ace would have none of it, he flew straight for his brother, biting into his ear and throwing him towards the clouds, "Keep flying!" He called as Sabo spun without control, "I'm right behind you!"

Ace sighed, trying to get his bearings again, catching sight of another shot just as it broke through the clouds, but it wasn't even aimed for him. It made his way past him and gave Ace a difficult and taxing choice to make. The shot was aimed for Sabo. But he would never make it to him in time, he had to pray that Sabo was faster. Meanwhile he let loose another powerful string of fire towards the shot's origin. " _Sabo!_!"

The golden boy had finally managed to control his momentum, just in time to hear his name being called, and just in time to break free from their cloudy arena. He could finally see where exactly they were, and that there were more than enough of the enemy waiting for them. So when he turned, he was not aware of the blast, not until it collided with the side of his face in a huge explosion of light.

Sabo didn't exactly know how to react, the mixture of fearing death, crying out because of the pain, and anger that Ace had made him leave just resulted in…a loud primal scream.

There were tons of naval ships just a few cliques below them, and each of them were alerted to Sabo when he screamed. All of them had weapons, and an easily wounded target. If it weren't for Ace.

Ace had responded like any brother would, seeing the side of their sibling's head explode. He attacked the monster responsible. He flew straight for the direction of the shot, through the fire he'd already shot in that direction, nearly beating it to its intended target. Ace caught the lightning dog's throat in his teeth, the force of the action sending both yokai spiraling out of their little cloud arena, and towards the island below them.

Even as they crashed into buildings, and people were either hurt, injured, or worse. Ace didn't let go, even biting down harder. Even as he heard voices screaming all around them, some in fear, others barking orders, he stayed where he was. And even as his enemy scratched, and bit back, attempting to free himself, Ace wouldn't let him get away.

He was surrounded in a manner of minutes. Ace didn't know what surprised him more, how many navy men were on this one island or nearby, or how they'd gotten this bastard yokai to work with them. Either way, he knew there's was nothing that was going to stop him from letting go.

He only heard one thing before something attached itself to his neck, and shocked him enough that he passed out:

"I've got a strange feeling that _you're_ what we've been looking for."


End file.
